Washington: State Voting Rights Act passes House: Will Senate ever vote on it? | Seattle Post Intelligencer

The Washington Voting Rights Act is designed to open up democracy in local government, but it has been shut down for three years in the Washington State Senate. On Thursday, the Democratic-controlled House of Representative passed the WVRA for the fourth consecutive year, on a party line 50-47 vote. It now goes to the Republican-run Senate, where in past years the Rules Committee has refused a floor vote. The legislation gives counties, cities and towns the authority to negotiate election changes, specifically to move from at-large voting to a system of districts. (Seattle moved to district voting last year for seven of its nine City Council seats.) The legislation is prompted by Eastern Washington counties in which the population is now 30-50 percent Hispanic, but where at-large voting has kept the growing minority from winning council and school board seats.
Across the Evergreen State, just 6.4 percent of school board members and 7 percent of city council members are people of color. “This is about making our democracy stronger,” said Rich Stolz, director of OneAmerica, a broad-based advocacy group for immigrant rights. “Washington state’s huge representation gap across local governments results in neighborhoods being denied adequate resources and attention, students being denied an education system that meets their needs, and voters being disaffected and unengaged.”
What’s different this year? A federal court suit, and a political groundswell that has shaken Yakima politics.
A suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, and backstopped by Seattle’s skilled Perkins Coie law firm, promoted a summary judgment by U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice.  In 26 years of at-large elections, the city had never elected an Hispanic to its seven member city council or to the Yakima School Board.
Full Article: The Washington Voting Rights Act passes House: Will Senate ever vote on it? – seattlepi.com.