YAKIMA — A federal judge has adopted a plan by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington for boosting the voice of Latinos in Yakima elections.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice ruled last summer that Yakima’s system for city council elections “suffocates” the will of Latino voters. He asked the city and the ACLU chapter to come up with proposals for new systems.
In a ruling Tuesday, he adopted the ACLU’s version, The Yakima Herald reported. He said the city’s plan would not have ensured Latinos were adequately represented.
Under the order, the city will have seven voting districts, with council members elected from each. One of the districts is more than half made up of Latino citizens of voting age, and another is nearly half. All of the council seats will be up for election this year, even though not all of the incumbents’ terms have run out, and council candidates must all live in their own districts.
“Latino voters now will have a chance for their interests to be represented on the council and have more of a say in how city services are distributed,” said Kathleen Taylor, executive director of the ACLU chapter. “This will strengthen democracy in Yakima.”
Previously, council members have been elected city-wide. No Latino has been elected to the council in the 37-year history of the current system, even though Yakima’s population is now more than 40 percent Latino.
The ACLU brought the lawsuit in 2012 on behalf of two Latino residents: former City Council candidate Rogelio Montes and Mateo Arteaga, an administrator at Central Washington University. The federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 invites court challenges to election systems that prevent protected minorities from meaningfully influencing election outcomes.
Yakima City Council members said the council will have to meet to discuss the next steps in the lawsuit. The city has 30 days to appeal, but has already spent more than $928,000 defending the case. The ACLU may also file a motion to recoup its legal costs, which could top $1 million.
In the election this year, some current incumbents would be put in the position of facing each other, such as council members Dave Ettl and Micah Cawley, who both live in the proposed District 7. To preserve the staggered election plan for council seats, some districts will be elected to two-year terms this year and to four-year terms in 2017.
Local Republican leaders have criticized the case as an attempt by Seattle-area progressives to gain a foothold in Yakima as Latinos — a demographic that have leaned heavily toward Democrats in recent national elections — grow in number in the state’s conservative agricultural regions.
Yakima County Democrats chairwoman Susan Palmer cheered the ruling in an email to activists Tuesday.
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