Leer en Español: Empowering Latina Leaders and Action (ELLA), ACLU de Washington y la Junta Escolar de Sunnyside llegan a un acuerdo para cambiar el sistema de votación utilizado en las elecciones para la Junta Escolar de Sunnyside

For Immediate Release
August 12, 2024

Media Contact:
ACLU of Washington, [email protected]
 

Sunnyside, WA — The Sunnyside School District agreed to change its at-large electoral process to a by-district voting system after reaching a settlement agreement with Empowering Latina Leaders & Action (ELLA).

ELLA, through counsel, the ACLU of Washington and Molly Peach Matter of Amend Law, notified the district in April that it believed the district’s at-large voting system violated the Washington Voting Rights Act (WVRA) by diluting Latinx votes, which prevented the community from having an equal opportunity to meaningfully influence the outcome of elections. After reviewing ELLA’s voting and historical data, the district acknowledged that its at-large voting system plausibly violated the WVRA and agreed to settle the claims.

In the settlement, the Sunnyside School District agreed to move to a by-district voting system. The parties agreed to redraw voting maps to include three active majority Latinx voting districts. The new voting maps and by-district system must be implemented for the 2025 primary and general elections, when all five school board seats will be up for election. The school district also agreed to reimburse the ACLU for statutory legal fees.

“This is a victory for our community that has felt unheard by the Sunnyside School District, as we will finally have a meaningful say in school board elections,” said Maria Fernandez, ELLA’s executive director. “For too long, at-large voting in Sunnyside made it impossible for Latinos to elect candidates of their choice. Changing to a more representative system will ensure Latinx students and families have a meaningful say in how the school district is run.”

“ELLA came to us with concerns about the current voting system, and they had data to support their concerns,” said Ryan Maxwell, the Sunnyside School District’s superintendent. “Once the concerns were brought to our attention, we agreed that the best course of action for the community would be to move to a district-based voting system, which we hope will increase voter turnout and input on issues critical to supporting our students and staff.”

This action is part of a broader effort by the ACLU-WA and others to make voting systems in Washington state fairer and more representative. The settlement comes nearly ten years after the organization won Montes v. Yakima, which ended at-large voting for the Yakima City Council and was the beginning of voting rights litigation in Eastern Washington.

The WVRA was enacted in 2018 to allow jurisdictions to change their voting system without costly litigation. The ACLU-WA hopes this puts other jurisdictions on notice that at-large election systems likely violate the WVRA and encourages them to change their systems before litigation is necessary.

“By-district elections give people a better say in their lives, instead of allowing a small group to dictate the decisions for an entire community,” said David Montes, staff attorney for the ACLU-WA. “We’re excited for Latinx residents in Sunnyside to have an election system that will better represent their interests, and thankful to the Sunnyside School District for working with us in good faith to alleviate the community’s concerns. We hope other jurisdictions take note and change their system without the need for costly legal action”

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