Washington State Redistricting Commission Explained

The Washington State Redistricting Commission is a decennial body charged with redrawing congressional and legislative districts in the state of Washington after each census. On November 8, 1983, Washington state passed the 74th amendment to its constitution via Senate Joint Resolution 103 to permanently establish the Redistricting Commission.^[1] Earlier that year the first commission redrew the state's congressional map after the previous one drawn by the legislature was ruled unconstitutional.^[2] Since after the 1990 census, a committee of four appointees of the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate appoint a fifth member as non-voting chair, and meet to redistributes representative seats according to census results.^[3]

History

• 1956: League of Women Voters proposed Initiative 199 passed, linking redistribution to population trends. However, the resulting redistricting map was altered by the legislature.^[4]
• 1982: Senate Joint Resolution placed Constitutional Amendment 74 on the ballot.^[5]
• 1983: Amendment 74 passed; 61% in favor, 39% in opposition.^[6]
• 1991: The first Redistricting Commission met and created a redistricting plan, including new 9th congressional district.
• 2001: The second Redistricting Commission met and created a redistricting plan. Due to disagreements during redistricting, they could not meet their statutory deadline; however, they passed a plan before their constitutional deadline.^[7]
• 2011: The third Redistricting Commission met and created a redistricting plan, including new 10th congressional district.^[8]
• 2021: The fourth Redistricting Commission met, but failed to agree on a redistricting plan by the deadline of November 15, 2021.^[9] Under Washington state law, if the commission fails to pass a redistricting plan, then the state Supreme Court is required to do so. After the deadline, the commission published its consensus congressional and state legislative redistricting plans, and encouraged the state Supreme Court to enact them.^[10] However, on December 3, the court ruled that the commission had "substantially complied with the statutory deadline" and ordered the commission to complete its work to transmit the consensus redistricting plans to the legislature.^[11]
• 2024: 13 districts, primarily in Central Washington, are redrawn after a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the 15th district was in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.^[12]

Members

1991 Commission

• Mary Kay Becker (Democratic appointee)
• Shelly Yapp (Democratic appointee)
• Bill Polk (Republican appointee)
• Veda Jellen (Republican appointee)
• Graham Fernald (non-voting chair)^[13]

2001 Commission

• Dean Foster (Senate Democratic appointee)^[14]
• John Giese
• Bobbi Krebs-McMullen
• Richard Derham
• Graham Johnson (non-voting chair)

2011 Commission

• Tim Ceis (Senate Democratic appointee)
• Slade Gorton (Senate Republican appointee)
• Dean Foster (House Democratic appointee)
• Tom Huff (House Republican appointee)
• Lura Powell (non-voting chair)^[15]

2021 Commission

• Brady Walkinshaw (Senate Democratic appointee)
• Joe Fain (Senate Republican appointee)
• April Sims (House Democratic appointee)
• Paul Graves (House Republican appointee)
• Sarah Augustine (former non-voting chair, resigned on March 7, 2022)^{[16] [17] [18]}

External links

Washington State Redistricting Commission

Notes and References

1. Web site: Washington Redistricting Commission, Amendment 74 (1983).
2. News: Ammons . David . June 7, 1983 . Redistricting: Lawmakers lob the ball into the voters' court . 26 . . Newspapers.com . April 22, 2020.
3. Web site: About the Commission.
4. Web site: Historical Timeline. https://web.archive.org/web/20120323023459/http://redistricting.wa.gov/history.asp. 2012-03-23.
5. Web site: Washington Redistricting Commission, Amendment 74 (1983).
6. Web site: Washington Redistricting Commission, Amendment 74 (1983).
7. Web site: Washington Secretary of State - . 2024-08-03 . app.leg.wa.gov.
8. Web site: 2011 Washington State Redistricting Commission website . January 27, 2013.
9. News: Santos . Melissa . In a first, court will decide new WA redistricting plan as commission falters . 24 November 2021 . Crosscut . en . 16 November 2021.
10. News: Brunner . Jim . Washington’s redistricting failure: What went wrong and what happens now? . 24 November 2021 . The Seattle Times . en . 19 November 2021.
11. Web site: Order No. 25700-B-676 . Supreme Court of Washington . 3 December 2021.
12. News: Beekman . Daniel . March 16, 2024 . Judge redraws WA's legislative map after lawsuit over Latino voters . The Seattle Times . October 24, 2024.
13. Web site: Washington Secretary of State - . 2024-08-03 . app.leg.wa.gov.
14. Web site: Washington Secretary of State - . 2024-08-03 . app.leg.wa.gov.
15. Web site: Washington State Redistricting Commission: The Commission. February 6, 2013.
16. News: Brunner . Jim . Changes ahead for Washington state’s political landscape: Redistricting may bring some drama . 5 January 2021 . Seattle Times . 4 January 2021.
17. News: Muir . Pat . White Swan woman tapped to lead state Redistricting Commission . 24 February 2021 . Yakima Herald-Republic . 8 February 2021 . en.
18. Web site: Redistricting Commission Members. May 23, 2022.