Groups call upon the state’s Voting Rights Act for better representation in Ferry and Yakima counties.
Six years after the Yakima Latinx community successfully sued for better representation in city politics, Washington’s new Voting Rights Act is helping more communities demand their place at the political table.
The Colville Tribes in rural Ferry County and Latinx residents in Yakima County are using the new state law to advocate for better representation in county politics, saying their votes have been diluted in the current electoral systems.
Four Yakima Latinx residents, alongside immigrant advocacy group OneAmerica, sent a letter on January 15 saying the county’s voting system denies Latinx voters “an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to the Commission.” While almost half of Yakima County is Hispanic or Latinx, making up a third of the citizen voting-age population, the group says the current at-large system denies them fair representation because the countywide white vote can ultimately overrule theirs.
The Colville Tribes want to change from at-large elections to in-district voting in Ferry County. Currently, the county’s general election results come from a countywide vote, similar to Yakima County. People of color make up nearly one-quarter of Ferry County, of which 13% are Native Americans.
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