Your role in legislative redistricting

The once-a-decade redistricting process is underway across the country. The Washington State Redistricting Commission needs your input. Every 10 years, after the federal census, congressional and state legislative electoral districts boundaries are redrawn to ensure that each district represents an equal number of residents. The state’s population has grown by almost 13% since 2010. Current voting-district lines will shift to reflect this growth. Will they shift in ways that are fair and representative? That depends on good processes, good data and thoughtful input from residents.

The state’s Redistricting Commission is responsible for drawing new maps. It is an independent commission consisting of four voting members – two Democrats and two Republicans – appointed by the leaders of the Democratic and Republican caucuses in the legislature’s House and Senate. A fifth, nonvoting chairperson is selected by the commissioners.

The League of Women Voters of Washington commends the commission for its efforts to use technology which encourages input. The website is friendly and includes translations into multiple languages. It provides many ways to provide input: testifying at a virtual public meeting, uploading video comments, submitting written testimony, emailing or mailing written comments, submitting voicemail and uploading mapping suggestions. Comments in any language are welcome. Public meetings are broadcast in Spanish and American Sign Language and free interpreter and translation services are available.

Commissioners intend to view, read and listen to all input received. Moreover, commissioners say they are committed to meeting with anyone who wants to provide input, demonstrating their intention to be inclusive and responsive. They meet monthly with leaders from Redistricting Justice for Washington, a coalition of 30 organizations, including the LWVWA, Win/Win Network and Community Alliance.

The League of Women Voters has created tools to help residents craft effective personal testimony. You can view training videos from its Speak Up School series and find many resources on the Speakup website.

For those who want to drill in on the data, technology advances have made map creation easier, with many purpose-built free solutions available. The redistricting commission created a “DrawYourWA” mapping tool. Dave’s Redistricting App, DistrictR and Representable are other good options.

But it is not necessary to draw your own map. The League intends to present a mapping recommendation to the commission. Commenting on your community of interest provides important input as this League-recommended map is being created. League of Women Voters Mapping Listening sessions are scheduled regionally and statewide to get feedback from community members on draft versions of these maps. After this extensive outreach process, The LWVWA will submit complete map recommendations for legislative and congressional districts. Follow this process on the LWVWA Redistricting webpage.

Please advocate for maps that fairly represent our changing demographics. If we want representative maps – and the chance to elect people who reflect our communities and our interests – we need to speak up.