Hispanic voting rights lawsuit forces election changes at a Tri-Cities utility district

The Franklin PUD will switch to district-based elections after an agreement was reached Monday in a lawsuit filed in Franklin County Superior Court.

The UCLA Voting Rights Project and Morfin Law Firm in Kennewick announced the settlement on behalf of two Pasco residents against the Franklin Public Utility District.

Currently, the Franklin PUD is divided into three districts for PUD commissioners. Only district residents vote in the primary to narrow the field of candidates to two for each district. But in the general election, all residents of the PUD vote on any commission seat up for election.

Under the new legal agreement, voters in the general election will only vote on candidates representing their district.

The change to the voting system, intended to give Latino PUD customers better representation, will start in 2026.

“The adoption of district-based elections is an important step toward guaranteeing that all voters, including Latino voters, have an effective voice in the governance of their community,” said Edwardo Morfin, founder of the Morfin Law Firm, in a statement.

Hispanics make up 37% of the voting age population of U.S. citizens in Franklin County. But no Hispanic person had been elected to the commission in at least 20 years when the lawsuit was filed in September 2024, despite strong numbers in precincts with a high density of Latino voters.

However, in November Pedro Torres won election over long-time Commissioner Stu Nelson. Both live in District 3, which has a high concentration of Latino residents. It includes much of the eastern half of Pasco.

The lawsuit, filed by Jose Trinidad Corral and Gabriel Portugal, members of the League of United Latin American Citizens, followed a complaint against the PUD in May that said its voting system violated the Washington Voting Rights Act and the Washington State Constitution.

On Sept. 4, 2024, the Franklin PUD Commission directed the PUD general manager to take steps to change to a district general election system, but days later the lawsuit was filed.

According to the commissioner’s resolution, the change to voting was made to “avoid even the appearance of a potential violation of the WVRA and to minimize the disruption and cost impacts on district ratepayers.”

The resolution also directed PUD General Manager Scott Rhees to negotiate a settlement agreement in the lawsuit.

The settlement agreement reached Monday was not immediately available.

The Franklin PUD Commission is expected to discuss the settlement agreement at its 8:30 a.m. Tuesday meeting at 1411 W. Clark St., Pasco.

Hispanics in Franklin County

Franklin County has a history of ethnic and racial tension between the county’s white and Latino communities, the lawsuit said.

East Pasco was once the only part of the city where Hispanic and other minorities were allowed to live.

More recently Franklin County officials have expressed anti-immigration sentiment against the county’s mostly Latino immigrant population, the lawsuit said.

The settlement agreement will not change the voting district boundaries adopted in 2022, as the lawsuit had originally sought.

The existing PUD District 3 crosses Highway 395 and excludes a portion of historic East Pasco, the lawsuit said. It excludes a voting precinct with a large majority of Hispanic voters in East Pasco and includes five precincts with a majority of white voters, it said.

The result is a district with 50% Latino voters with some areas where Latino voters have high turnout excluded, the lawsuit said.

Latinos comprise 56% of the population in Pasco, the largest city in Franklin County, and the Latino population of Franklin County has grown to make up about 37% of the citizens of voting age, the lawsuit said.

It said that change to the election system is timely after the PUD raised utility rates for the first time in six years effective May 2024. The 3% annual rate hike through 2027 will burden low income residents who are often Hispanic, the complaint said.

Almost one in five Latinos in Franklin County live below the poverty line, compared to 7% of white residents, the lawsuit said. Latino residents earn an average of $25,000 less per capita than white residents.

Homeownership also is lower, at 35% for Latino residents compared to 76% of white residents, according to the 2020 U.S. census.