Moscoso optimistic about passage of Washington Voting Rights Act

State Rep. Luis Moscoso says he is optimistic about the chances for passing the Washington Voting Rights Act during this year’s legislative session.

The bill passed Thursday in the State House of Representatives just as it had last year. Moscoso, prime sponsor of the legislation, said Friday that, this year, the bill has a better chance to pass the state Senate, where it never advanced to the floor last year from the Rules Committee.

Moscoso said that the bill, modeled after the civil-rights-era federal law, would provide an easier and swifter path to justice for individuals who have been shut out of their local elections.

Moscoso and other Democrats say that the bill would help avoid expensive federal litigation.

Moscoso said Thursday, “Today the House voted to protect fairness and equality in our democracy.”

The bill, HB 1745, would allow groups who find that they are systemically disenfranchised in local elections to challenge the process in state court. Moscoso said that this is quicker and less expensive than the federal option and that it would require parties who disagree over an election system to negotiate before suing and would protect municipalities that make meaningful change from future lawsuits.

Moscoso, and other Democrats say that the result would be an easier way to fix voting systems that hurt some voters. That includes cities that vote at-large instead of by districts. Democrats say that a bonus would be lower costs for local governments and taxpayers.

Democrats point to the high cost of a federal lawsuit against the city of Yakima in 2014 that resulted in an order to change city council elections from at-large representation to representation by districts.

Moscoso, one of three Hispanic members of the legislature, said Friday that he likes the bill’s prospects in the Senate.

He gave two reasons why some of the Republican state senators who opposed the bill last year may have a different view this year:

He said that what’s different is that legislators now know that: (A) without a state Voting Rights Act, potential plaintiffs will have no recourse but the federal courts; and (B) responding to federal suits wastes taxpayer resources (millions in the Yakima case), adding that the Washington Voting Rights Act, offers a mediated settlement or less expensive state court adjudication if needed.

Moscoso also said, “I have met with elected officials from Eastern Washington who told me they would like to avoid the expense of a federal lawsuit that they believe would be likely if they are authorized to modify their election systems as provided under 1745.

“The election of three Latinas in Yakima last year demonstrates the necessity of providing legislation that enables jurisdictions the ability to modify their election systems to avoid racially polarized voting that they reasonably expect to be possible in some areas. No Latinos had ever been elected in Yakima until the federal lawsuit proved that their election system was skewed against that minority community.”

The vote for the bill followed testimony Jan. 19 in the House committee on state government from newly elected Yakima City Council members Avina Gutiérrez and Carmen Méndez. The pair shared the story about how the switch to district elections made it possible for them to become Yakima’s first Latino council members ever, in a city that is 40 percent Hispanic.

Moscoso said, “We have seen the promise of representative democracy fulfilled in cities like Yakima and Seattle, where district voting has produced governments that finally look like the citizens they represent. This bill would extend that promise to communities across Washington.”

The bill passed the House last session and was approved by the Senate Government Operations Committee, but was never scheduled for a vote of the full Senate.

State Rep. Derek Stanford is among the co-sponsors.

Moscoso and Stanford are Democrats representing the 1st Legislative District, including most of Mountlake Terrace, all of Brier and Bothell, unincorporated areas of Snohomish County north and east of Bothell, north Kirkland, and unincorporated areas of king County between Bothell and Kirkland.

Democratic State Sens. Maralyn Chase and Marko Liias are among sponsors of a companion bill in the senate. Chase represents the 32nd Legislative District including Lynnwood, Woodway and nearby unincorporated areas, parts of Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace, the city of Shoreline and a small part of northwest Seattle. Liias represents the 21st Legislative District including most of Edmonds, unincorporated areas north of Edmonds and Lynnwood and northeast of Lynnwood, all of Mukilteo, and part of south Everett.

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.