Washington State Redistricting Commission

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 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: The redistricting process is declared to be unconstitutional in the outcome of Doph v. Munro, a lawsuit filed by Everett residents who objected to being moved to the 1st congressional district. ^[6]
• 1983: Amendment 74 passed; 61% in favor, 39% in opposition. ^[7]
• 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. ^[8]
• 2011: The third Redistricting Commission met and created a redistricting plan, including new 10th congressional district. ^[9]
• 2021: The fourth Redistricting Commission met, but failed to agree on a redistricting plan by the deadline of November 15, 2021. ^[10] 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. ^[11] 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. ^[12]
• 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. ^[13]

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) ^[14]

2001 Commission

• Dean Foster (Senate Democratic appointee) ^[15]
• John Giese
• Bobbi Krebs-McMullen
• Richard Derham
• Graham Johnson (non-voting chair) ^[8]

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) ^[16]

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) ^{[17] [18] [19]}

References

1. "Washington Redistricting Commission, Amendment 74 (1983)".
2. Ammons, David (June 7, 1983). "Redistricting: Lawmakers lob the ball into the voters' court". Spokane Chronicle . p. 26. Retrieved April 22, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
3. "About the Commission".
4. "Historical Timeline". Archived from the original on March 23, 2012.
5. "Washington Redistricting Commission, Amendment 74 (1983)".
6. "Initial Legislation of Redistricting Commission". Shifting Boundaries: Redistricting in Washington State. Washington State Legislature. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
7. "Washington Redistricting Commission, Amendment 74 (1983)".
8. "Washington Secretary of State -". app.leg.wa.gov. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
9. "2011 Washington State Redistricting Commission website". Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
10. Santos, Melissa (November 16, 2021). "In a first, court will decide new WA redistricting plan as commission falters". Crosscut. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
11. Brunner, Jim (November 19, 2021). "Washington's redistricting failure: What went wrong and what happens now?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
12. "Order No. 25700-B-676" (PDF). Supreme Court of Washington. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
13. Beekman, Daniel (March 16, 2024). "Judge redraws WA's legislative map after lawsuit over Latino voters". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
14. "Washington Secretary of State -". app.leg.wa.gov. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
15. "Washington Secretary of State -". app.leg.wa.gov. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
16. "Washington State Redistricting Commission: The Commission" . Retrieved February 6, 2013.
17. Brunner, Jim (January 4, 2021). "Changes ahead for Washington state's political landscape: Redistricting may bring some drama". Seattle Times. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
18. Muir, Pat (February 8, 2021). "White Swan woman tapped to lead state Redistricting Commission". Yakima Herald-Republic. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
19. "Redistricting Commission Members" . Retrieved May 23, 2022.

External links

Washington State Redistricting Commission