Data shows few Latino voters in Yakima so far

YAKIMA — A new elections system designed to increase the number of Latinos voting in Yakima so far isn’t generating much interest at the ballot box.

With the primary election for City Council races coming up Tuesday, less than 6 percent of registered Latino voters had cast ballots as of Wednesday, The Yakima Herald-Republic reported Friday.

Even in two majority-Latino districts, the majority of ballots cast so far have come from non-Latino voters, the newspaper reported.

The numbers come from the county’s tracking of ballots issued to voters with Spanish surnames.

A federal judge in February ordered a district-based election system after the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington successfully sued the city under the Voting Rights Act.

Latinos are running for City Council positions. All three candidates in District 1 are Latino, as are three of the four running in District 2.

But of the 191 ballots received in District 1, just 65 came from Latino voters. In District 2, 106 of the 259 ballots received were cast by Latinos.

Activists say the low numbers aren’t for a lack of effort. Latinos have historically had lower voter turnout locally.

“It’s something people have to practice, and they need to be engaged yearly,” said Gabriel Muñoz, a former Democratic state Senate candidate.

Despite the low turnout thus far, Muñoz pointed to the record eight Latino candidates running for the City Council.

“People still don’t feel like they’re part of the community because of the way things have been,” Muñoz said. “With more engagement, people are going to recognize and understand the elections system better.”

ACLU of Washington spokesman Doug Honig declined to comment on the current low voter turnout.

Yakima’s Latino population quadrupled from 8,914 in 1990 to 37,587 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census. In 2012, the ACLU filed suit on behalf of two Latino residents alleging that Yakima’s hybrid of district and at-large voting for City Council races was suppressing that group’s voice in public representation.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice ruled in favor of the ACLU and ordered that an all-district system be adopted.