OLYMPIA – Senate Bill 5597 passed the Senate on February 10 without the support of two senators representing the Yakima Valley. Senators Curtis King and Jim Honeyford each represent parts of the valley. Senator King said he disagreed with several parts of the bill.
Senate Bill 5597 was sponsored by Senator Rebecca Saldaña of the 37th legislative district. It is an addition to the Washington Voting Rights Act. It changes the law in two key ways.
First, it requires preclearance from the state attorney general or a superior court before district maps can be finalized.
Second, it requires the University of Washington to collect population based data for at least the previous 12 year period. They would use the data to investigate whether current election practices are in violation of the Voting Rights Act and how diluting protected classes votes can be avoided.
While disappointing for OneAmerica, the human rights group in support of the legislation, the Political Director Melissa Rubio said their votes aren’t surprising.
The Yakima Valley has a history of discrimination towards voters of color, particularly the Latino population. Two lawsuits have been filed on the basis of voter dilution and discrimination in Yakima. One against the city council voting system, which the city lost. The other against the commissioner voting system. The county settled that lawsuit in August.
Senator King, of legislative district 14, said he voted no on the bill because he thinks the preclearance requirement for the finalization of legislative districts is ridiculous.
“Who’s running the show? It’s now the attorney general or a court it’s so cumbersome, it’s so in your face, that’s what I don’t like about it, why I voted no,” Senator King said.
He also said the bill would make it easier for any voter to sue cities if they disagree with the district maps, even with preclearance, because any voter can appeal the court’s or the attorney general’s decision.
“It’s intimidation to our cities because they can be sued at the drop of a hat under this bill,” Senator King said.
He believes he voted in line with what his constituents would want and that the Washington Voting Rights Act is strong enough as it is now.
Rubio disagrees.
“He’s not voting in line with the priorities of his constituents, he’s voting in line with the priorities of white wealthy politicians who want to continue to hold power and hoard power and keep folks like our community members that we organize in the valley from actually being able to run for office,” Rubio said.
OneAmerica believes this addition to the WVRA is necessary in order to guarantee a just voting system for everyone.
“It’s really important that we have a local a strong local voting rights act here in Washington that we can lean on it as we see voting rights being attacked,” Rubio said.
Rubio added it’s important this bill be passed now, when Washington is going through redistricting to make sure everyone’s vote counts.
Washington redistricts every 10 years.
She also said the concept of preclearance isn’t anything new.
“Preclearance was part of the federal voting rights act until it was removed during the dismantling of the federal voting rights act, so it’s not ridiculous, it’s something that’s a proven check and balance in our electoral justice system,” Rubio said.
The sponsor of the bill Senator Rebecca Saldaña was in session in the senate and unable to comment.
Senator Jim Honeyford from the 15th legislative district – who voted against the bill – was also in session and unable to comment.
The bill passed the State Governments and Tribal Relations Committee in the House of Representatives today and will be up for discussion on the floor next.
