ACLU racks up a win against Yakina city council districting.
WE WON! On Friday a federal judge ruled that Yakima’s City Council election scheme violates the Voting Rights Act, and called for the parties to draw a new voting system for the city.
We filed the lawsuit in 2012, citing that no Latino had ever been elected to the City Council in the 37-year history of the current system—even though Latinos make up one-third of the City’s voting-age population. Now that will all change!
The judge ruled on the entire case Friday on a summary judgment motion, stating the at-large system makes it virtually impossible for the Latino community to elect its favored candidate to the city council. The 67-page order came in the same week that we presented the oral arguments.
Nothing is more fundamental to our democracy than the right to vote. Yakima will never be the same.
Thank you for making this possible!
Kathleen Taylor
Executive Director
t 206.624.2184 ext. 211
901 Fifth Avenue, Suite 630
Seattle, WA 98164
www.aclu-wa.org
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