State House passes Washington Voting Rights Act
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - The state House passed a measure Thursday to reform representation of minorities in local elections, over the objections of Republicans who said that the measure was unnecessary and potentially costly.
The Washington Voting Rights Act passed on a nearly party-line 53-44 vote. Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, joined Republicans in opposing the measure. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its future is uncertain.
The measure allows for minority individuals or groups to seek court-mandated orders to jurisdictions to reform their elections. Those jurisdictions include towns and cities of 1,000 people or more, school districts, fire districts, counties, and ports, among others. Among the remedies is shifting from at-large elections to district-based elections to better represent residents.
Rep. Luis Moscoso, D-Mountlake Terrace, said the idea of proportional representation is reflective of American democracy.
"When a neighborhood or community cannot elect representation from their locality, then that democracy is not served, and our American dream is diminished," he said.
One concern raised was that the measure would end up costing cash-strapped school districts money.
"Here's the one thing we know that's going to be a result of this law, and that's lawsuits," said Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg. "We want to accomplish change, not bankruptcy."
The push behind the measure is the history of elections in Central and Eastern Washington - specifically Yakima County, where the American Civil Liberties filed a lawsuit last year against the city of Yakima. Forty-one percent of Yakima's 91,000 residents are Latino, but the city has never elected a Latino member to its at-large city council.
In 2011, council members refused to put an initiative on a special ballot requiring that each of the seven members represent a specific district, and Yakima voters defeated an initiative to change the system in last year's primary. The ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal court under the federal Voting Rights Act, and the case is still pending.
Several Republican amendments were rejected Thursday, including one seeking to limit lawsuits if redistricting has already occurred, and another that sought to create a bipartisan redistricting committee to redraw districts, instead of a judge-appointed remedy.
Rep. Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla, said she was offended by the implication that she might not represent the interests of her district, which includes a large Hispanic population.
"I feel like I do a very good job representing them," she said. "I understand that there are issues with civil rights. But I also really think when we continually talk about disproportionality and talk about allowing certain protected classes to change things in our system, maybe we're taking the wrong approach. I think we perpetuate the prejudice when we continue to drive issues like this."
Democratic Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, of Burien, said he understood that there are strong feelings on both sides of the issue and the measure wasn't trying to target one part of the state.
"I think there are a lot of things that we need to do back in our home districts to talk to our constituents about how to engage communities that are not as engaged as others," he said. "But at the end of the day, if there are people that have been trying for decades and decades and decades to see somebody that looks like them in elected office, and they consistently don't see that, it's important that there be a remedy."
The measure is House Bill 1413.
The Washington Voting Rights Act passed on a nearly party-line 53-44 vote. Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, joined Republicans in opposing the measure. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its future is uncertain.
The measure allows for minority individuals or groups to seek court-mandated orders to jurisdictions to reform their elections. Those jurisdictions include towns and cities of 1,000 people or more, school districts, fire districts, counties, and ports, among others. Among the remedies is shifting from at-large elections to district-based elections to better represent residents.
Rep. Luis Moscoso, D-Mountlake Terrace, said the idea of proportional representation is reflective of American democracy.
"When a neighborhood or community cannot elect representation from their locality, then that democracy is not served, and our American dream is diminished," he said.
One concern raised was that the measure would end up costing cash-strapped school districts money.
"Here's the one thing we know that's going to be a result of this law, and that's lawsuits," said Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg. "We want to accomplish change, not bankruptcy."
The push behind the measure is the history of elections in Central and Eastern Washington - specifically Yakima County, where the American Civil Liberties filed a lawsuit last year against the city of Yakima. Forty-one percent of Yakima's 91,000 residents are Latino, but the city has never elected a Latino member to its at-large city council.
In 2011, council members refused to put an initiative on a special ballot requiring that each of the seven members represent a specific district, and Yakima voters defeated an initiative to change the system in last year's primary. The ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal court under the federal Voting Rights Act, and the case is still pending.
Several Republican amendments were rejected Thursday, including one seeking to limit lawsuits if redistricting has already occurred, and another that sought to create a bipartisan redistricting committee to redraw districts, instead of a judge-appointed remedy.
Rep. Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla, said she was offended by the implication that she might not represent the interests of her district, which includes a large Hispanic population.
"I feel like I do a very good job representing them," she said. "I understand that there are issues with civil rights. But I also really think when we continually talk about disproportionality and talk about allowing certain protected classes to change things in our system, maybe we're taking the wrong approach. I think we perpetuate the prejudice when we continue to drive issues like this."
Democratic Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, of Burien, said he understood that there are strong feelings on both sides of the issue and the measure wasn't trying to target one part of the state.
"I think there are a lot of things that we need to do back in our home districts to talk to our constituents about how to engage communities that are not as engaged as others," he said. "But at the end of the day, if there are people that have been trying for decades and decades and decades to see somebody that looks like them in elected office, and they consistently don't see that, it's important that there be a remedy."
The measure is House Bill 1413.
So if a majority Black Community never elects a White to Office the ACLU will sue, right?
It sounds more like the "Democratic Party Perpetual Majority" Act.
WTF!! What happened to May The Best Candidate win? NOW we have to redraw jurisdiction lines to accommodate "Minorities"? You know, I don't quite remember but I THINK I learned in GRADE SCHOOL that there were no more restrictions on who could vote, at the age of 18, due to the Civil Rights Movement???! Man I hope this garbage is a fad that will pass.Â
I am all for proportional representation, but proportional to political ideology. This bill has nothing to do with political ideology, it is ONLY for race-based proportionality. Race or heritage should have NOTHING to do with who is elected.
Luis Moscoso is my representative, I have met him and spoken with him on various subjects and I find him to be a fairly intelligent man. I don't care one iota that he is of Hispanic heritage. I wouldn't care if he were of African heritage and I wouldn't care if my representative was of ANY heritage. If I think a person will represent my political stance I will vote for him or her regardless of that person's skin color, heritage, religion or any other such identifier. To think that ONLY a person of Hispanic heritage can represent other people of Hispanic heritage, that ONLY a person of African heritage can represent people of African heritage, that ONLY a person of Scandinavian heritage can represent people of Scandinavian heritage is utterly reprehensible to me.
There is no such thing as the American Dream in the Constitution. It's idiotic thinking like that which makes these people in government, and the people who vote for them, absolute fools with an elementary school understanding of civics.
The subtext of Luis Moscoso's rhetoric is that more "under-represented" people would vote if they knew they can elect people who will use force to make other people give things to them (wages, benefits, government transfers and services, etc.). I don't have a problem with government. I have a problem with people who use government to do things that they know are unjustified and often punishable under penal law if undertaken on their own. Because the oppressor-oppressed view has become so entrenched on the Left, and because making someone feel like a victim stirs powerful emotions, it's easy to understand how "under-represented" people have been lead to believe utterly false, juvenile, and fallacious views about what justice is.
@Pahana More "under-represented" would vote if they had the right to vote. If they only would have come into the country the proper way.
"Rep. Luis Moscoso, D-Mountlake Terrace, said the idea of proportional representation is reflective of American democracy."
Rep Monscoso should read the constitution America is not a democracy it is a Representative Republic. The people that represent us should at least know what kind of government we are.
The Democratic party's own version of gerrymandering.
"The push behind the measure is the history of elections in Central and Eastern Washington - specifically Yakima County, where the American Civil Liberties filed a lawsuit last year against the city of Yakima. Forty-one percent of Yakima's 91,000 residents are Latino, but the city has never elected a Latino member to its at-large city council." Weird, King County is mostly Democrat, and they can't seem to vote in people who can THINK. I doubt it's the demographic or the inhabitants. Over THERE, elections are paid for by the ones who have money (the orchard farmers....etc) Over HERE, the elections are paid for by those who have money (the 35K per plate Medina fundraisers) Take the "root of all evil" out of the election process, and elections will once again be fair, even and trustworthy. Until then, going to the polls is just a waste of effort.
@Takamine So only minorities can be on the ballot?