Voting Rights Legislation advances, arbitrarily places 64 cities in pre-clearance

A bill that amends the Washington Voting Rights Act has advanced without key amendments that cities need and passed a Senate floor vote.

SB 5597 requires a city that is considered a “covered jurisdiction” to submit key policy decisions to the Attorney General of Washington or to a Superior Court in Thurston or King County before the jurisdiction can take action on those policy decisions.

AWC has continually negotiated in good faith, however the bill left the Senate without addressing our biggest concerns.

• Cities believe there should be a nexus between violating a voting right law before a city is subject to oversight that limits the local decision-making authority of at least 64 cities in the state, with the potential for 95 cities to be impacted.
• Cities need additional language limiting costly litigation and legal uncertainty for jurisdictions even after they receive “pre-clearance”.

A covered jurisdiction is defined as a city:

• With at least 10,000 residents and more than one racial or ethnic group or at least one language minority group, which constitutes at least 10% of the cities voting age population; or
• Which has been subject, within the previous 25 years, to three or more court orders or government enforcement actions related to a violation of either state or federal civil rights laws; or
• Which has been subject, within the previous 25 years, to one court order related to a violation of the state or federal voting rights laws or a voting-related violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Cities have repeatedly offered amendments to address the definition of a covered jurisdiction.

Below is a list of cities that meet these criteria and could be considered a “covered jurisdiction”:

Once a city is defined as a “covered jurisdiction,” the city is then placed in “pre-clearance” which requires the jurisdiction to seek approval before taking a “covered action.”

Examples of “covered actions” requiring the pre-approval of the Attorney General or a Superior Court include:

• Changing the city charter (even for provisions unrelated to elections);
• Any change to the method of electing members of the governing body by adding seats elected at large; and
• Changing the boundaries of election districts or wards in the covered jurisdiction.

Preclearance does not protect a city from legal challenges. Once a jurisdiction has the approval to proceed, any voter in the jurisdiction can appeal that approval, delaying city business indefinitely.

Once a city is in pre-clearance, the legislation provides no option to be removed from oversight.

SB 5597 now heads to the House awaiting a policy committee hearing.