OPINION: Magnolia Fights for Last Minute Switch Without Acknowledging Its Own Racist Past
Historically, (since 1787, to be exact), white and wealthy communities have thrived at the involuntary expense of Black, Brown, and Indigenous People of Color and the working class — in the name of “compromise.” This year, the quote, “History doesn’t repeat itself — but it does rhyme,” couldn’t have been more timely.
Next month, the Seattle Redistricting Commission will finalize our new city council districts for the next decade. When used fairly, redistricting could achieve more equitable representation and funding by redrawing voting districts to reflect population changes and growing diversity. But there’s a catch: This process usually falls short when determining which neighborhoods should compromise by being split and have diminished voting power…
Coalition Works to Expand Public Participation in Seattle’s Redistricting Process
community groups are working to increase public participation in the process, warning that how the lines are drawn will shape representation in City Hall for years to come…
Many who spoke during public comment at forums held so far said they supported keeping Communities of Color together in general but felt there had been too little time to review the redistricting process or provide meaningful input. Moreover, because the meetings are organized in order from May through July, starting with District 1 and ending in District 7, districts farther south in Seattle, where more People of Color live, had far less time to prepare.
While there will be one more opportunity for public comment after the commission releases its final proposal map this fall, organizers say the process risks shutting out the very input that commissioners claim to be seeking…
State Supreme Court Returns Redistricting Issue Back to Legislators
Margot Spindola, another RJW co-director and an organizer of the Latino Community Fund, criticized the lack of transparency around the process…”First, the commissioners told us they voted on a ‘framework,’ then they said it was a ‘redistricting plan,’ and then we learned that the chair of the commission didn’t see any maps until they were uploaded to their website a day past the deadline, according to her sworn declaration,” Spindola said in a statement. “But here’s what we do know: These maps are illegitimate, the process violated the spirit of the Open Public Meetings Act, and independent analysis demonstrates they will violate the voting rights of Latinos in the Yakima Valley…”
State Supreme Court to Draw Redistricting Lines after Commission Misses Deadline
While People of Color make up about 35% of the State’s population, only one of the State’s 49 legislative districts — the 37th, which includes much of southeast Seattle, from the Central Area to Renton — currently has an eligible voting population that’s majority People of Color. It’s a similar story among U.S. House districts in the state: Only voters in the 9th District, which overlies much of South Seattle as well as southern Bellevue and all of Mercer Island, are majority People of Color…
Redistricting Is An Opportunity to Build BIPOC Voting Power, Organizers Say
“We see that Washington State is roughly 35% People of Color,” said Andrew Hong, the group’s co-director, who grew up in Columbia City and now attends Stanford University. “So by proportionality, 35% of state legislators and congresspeople should be elected by Communities of Color.”…When analyzing districts, Hong uses a measure called citizen voting age population, or CVAP…
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Opinion: Redistricting Happens Once A Decade — Let’s Increase BIPOC Representation
If you have lived in King County for more than ten years, you wouldn’t need the 2020 U.S. Census data to notice the radical shift of demographics in Seattle. As the city’s population drastically grew over the past two decades, many low-income BIPOC families were displaced due to gentrification. I experienced this phenomenon firsthand in 2010…
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