Franklin County lawsuit giving Latino voters more of a say is a major win for the future

The switch from at-large elections to district elections, with a majority Latino district centered in East Pasco is a huge win for the Latino community. As a community leader, Latino, long time resident of Franklin County, and plaintiff in the WVRA case, the new voting system finally allows Franklin County to have a government that will look like its residents. Our county is majority Latino, but we have never had a Latino Commissioner in over 130 years.

In 2024, for the first time in Franklin County history, Latinos will have the opportunity to elect our candidate of choice to the Board of Commissioners in District 2.

This year the District 3 commission seat in Franklin County is up for election, and it will be the final one decided under the current voting system. That means this time around everyone in the county will be able to vote in this race in the general election.

But when the other two county commission seats are decided in 2024, only people living in those particular districts will have a say.

While some may be unhappy with the settlement and new map, these criticisms are unfounded. The Washington Voting Rights Act (“WVRA”) was passed to allow voters in areas, such as Franklin County, that have at-large voting systems to go to district based elections to better reflect the change in demographics in the area. This is because at-large methods of election used by counties can allow the majority to block the minority from ever being able to win an election. This dynamic is well known to voters in City of Pasco (since the city changed to district based elections, Latinos have been now able to elect candidates to the city council).

The most obvious example is the 2020 election for District 2 Commissioner. In the November 2020 general election Ms. Ana Ruiz Peralta lost when voters countywide cast their ballots, however if only voters in the new District 2 map had voted, Peralta would have easily defeated Mr. Rocky Mullen and been elected to the county commission. Single member districts are critical for minority voters to have a voice in selecting their representatives.

There are three big results of the WVRA settlement:

First, Franklin County will have to use single-member district elections for county commissioner seats starting in 2024. That means that rather than the entire county getting to vote for all the candidates, the county will be split into three districts with each district getting to vote for their commissioner in both the primary and general elections. This same system is in place in Yakima County.

Second, Franklin County will have its first majority-Latino district for Franklin County commissioner. Latinos will be a majority in District 2 and also have a sizable population in District 1.

Third, Franklin County will not spend millions of taxpayer dollars to defend the illegal at-large voting system. As a community leader in the county, I know exactly who would suffer from the county spending millions on the county’s attorneys to defend at-large voting: the Latino community we were trying to help. The point of this lawsuit was never for money or to bankrupt the county I live in and love, it was to ensure that the Latino community in the county had a voice. We achieved that.

While 2024 might seem a ways away, this is the earliest the WVRA allowed such election changes to be made. While we fought to get a decision on this lawsuit prior to the 2022 election deadline, we faced obstacles from Franklin County, who repeatedly blocked our attempts to resolve the lawsuit over one-year ago.

While at first glance, the new map looks similar what is already in place. In reality it is completely different. Commissioners will now be elected by individual districts rather than the County as a whole. Latinos were previously outvoted by Anglos in countywide elections, but now Latinos can elect their candidate of choice in District 2.

While some believe that Latinos only having the opportunity to elect candidates in one district is a loss, our citizen and registered voter population is not currently large enough for two majority Latino districts. When dividing an area such as Franklin County into districts, rules must be followed. The total population of the districts must be similar, and the districts must be compact. Following these principles, and where Latinos live within the county, Latinos could only be the majority in one of the three Franklin County districts, District 2 which is centered on East Pasco.

This settlement was no small victory. Contrary to what some might say, this settlement does not give the commissioners exactly what they wanted. The commissioners wanted the elections to stay the same, with the countywide at-large election scheme. Without this settlement, elections in Franklin would stay the same. For decades, Franklin County fought against changing their elections.

I guarantee that our team would not have agreed to the settlement if it did not ensure better representation for our community. This win is not just one for those involved in the lawsuit, but a win for all of Franklin County. The residents will now see their county represented by all those living within it.

This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 10:16 AM.