wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 1710 > Original Bill

HB 1710 - Voting rights act compliance

Source

Section 1

  1. "Covered jurisdiction" means a jurisdiction which has been designated by the office of the secretary of state by rule in accordance with section 4 of this act to be:

    1. A political subdivision which, within the previous 25 years, has become subject to a court order, government enforcement action, court-approved consent decree, or a settlement in which the political subdivision conceded liability, based upon:

      1. A violation of chapter 29A.92 RCW, the federal voting rights act, the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution, or any voting-related violation of the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution or of the Washington Constitution; or

      2. A finding or concession that the political subdivision engaged in a pattern, policy, or practice of discrimination against members of a protected class in violation of state or federal law;

    2. A political subdivision which contains at least 6,000 citizens of voting age of a protected class or whose members comprise at least 15 percent of the citizen voting population of the political subdivision and where, at any point within the previous 10 years, the percentage of the citizen voting age population of the protected class that is registered to vote is at least 10 percentage points lower than the percentage of all citizens of voting age that are registered to vote in the political subdivision; or where, at any point during the previous 10 years, the percentage of the citizen voting age population of the protected class within the political subdivision that participated in any general election for any office of the political subdivision is at least 10 percentage points lower than the percentage of all citizens of voting age that participated in the election;

    3. A political subdivision where, for members of a protected class consisting of at least 6,000 citizens of voting age or whose members comprise at least 15 percent of the citizen voting age population of the political subdivision, at any point during the previous 10 years, the combined misdemeanor and felony arrest rate of that protected class is more than two times that of the whole population of the political subdivision;

    4. A political subdivision where, for members of a protected class consisting of at least 6,000 citizens of voting age or whose members comprise at least 15 percent of the citizen voting age population of the political subdivision, at any point during the previous 10 years, the poverty rate of that protected class exceeds the poverty rate of the whole population of the political subdivision by at least 10 percentage points; or

    5. Any political subdivision that, during the previous 25 years, was found to have enacted or implemented a covered policy without obtaining preclearance for such covered policy while designated as a covered jurisdiction pursuant to this section.

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    1. "Covered practice" means:

      1. Any change to the method of election of members of a governing body, including the removal of seats, the addition of seats elected at large, or the conversion of one or more seats elected from a single-member district to one or more at-large seats or seats from a multimember district;

      2. Any change, or series of changes within a 12-month period, to the boundaries of the covered jurisdiction that reduces by more than five percentage points the proportion of the jurisdiction's citizen voting age population that is composed of members of any protected class that is a basis for the political subdivision's designation as a covered jurisdiction;

      3. Any change to the boundaries of election districts or wards in the covered jurisdiction;

      4. Any change that restricts the ability of any person to provide interpreter services to voters in any language other than English or which limits or impairs the creation or distribution of voting materials in any language other than English;

    2. Any change to the covered jurisdiction's plan of government, including a change to or in the framing of a jurisdiction's charter;

    1. The method of election or district plans if, following each decennial census, a covered jurisdiction maintains an at-large method of election or a covered jurisdiction that implements a district-based election system makes no revisions to its districting plans;

    2. The annexation or deannexation of a political subdivision or the consolidation or division of political subdivisions;

    3. A change in the number, location, or hours of any election day or early voting site or ballot drop boxes; or

     ix. A change that may have the effect of denying, abridging, or diluting the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, as determined by the office of the attorney general by rule.
    1. "Covered practice" is not limited to actions taken independently by the governing body of a political subdivision, but also includes any changes as a result of ballot initiatives approved by voters.

  3. "Government enforcement action" includes a denial of administrative or judicial preclearance by the state or federal government, a final judgment or adjudication, or a similar formal action including but not limited to orders or final determinations from administrative adjudications.

  4. "Political subdivision" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 29A.92.010.

  5. "Protected class" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 29A.92.010.

Section 2

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    1. Prior to adopting or administering a covered practice as defined in section 1 of this act, the governing body of a covered jurisdiction shall:

      1. Institute an action in Thurston county superior court or, if the jurisdiction is located within Thurston county, institute an action in King county superior court, for a declaratory judgment certifying that the covered practice meets the standard in (b) of this subsection; or

      2. Submit such covered practice to the attorney general for issuance of a certification of no objection to the proposed covered practice.

    2. The superior court shall issue the declaratory judgment or, if applicable, the attorney general shall issue a certification of no objection, only if the proposed covered practice:

      1. Will not diminish the ability of the protected class or classes that are the basis for the political subdivision's designation as a covered jurisdiction to participate in the political process or to elect their preferred candidates to office; and

      2. Does not violate chapter 29A.92 RCW, the federal voting rights act, 52 U.S.C. Sec. 10301 et seq., or other provisions of state or federal law.

  2. No covered practice is effective until the superior court has entered a declaratory judgment certifying that the covered practice meets the standard in subsection (1)(b) of this section or the attorney general has issued a certification of no objection.

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    1. A certification of no objection may be deemed to have been issued if:

      1. After submitting a covered policy for a certification with the attorney general, the attorney general does not issue an objection within 60 days of the governing body's submission of the covered policy, except when the timeline is extended pursuant to (b) of this subsection; or

      2. The attorney general affirmatively indicates that no such objection will be made, upon a showing of good cause to facilitate an expedited approval within 60 days of the governing body's submission.

    2. The attorney general may, no more than twice, extend the number of days to issue an objection under (a) of this subsection by 90 days for each extension.

    3. If the attorney general affirmatively indicates that no objection will be made within the 60-day period following the receipt of the governing body's submission, the attorney general may reserve the right to reexamine the submission if the attorney general discovers additional information during the remainder of the 60-day period that would otherwise require an objection in accordance with this section. Upon reexamination, the attorney general may extend the number of days to issue an objection in accordance with (b) of this subsection.

    4. An affirmative indication by the attorney general that no objection will be made, the attorney general's failure to object, or a declaratory judgment entered by the superior court certifying that the covered practice meets the standard in subsection (1)(b) of this section does not bar a subsequent action to enjoin enforcement of the covered practice.

  4. The attorney general may institute an action in superior court of the county in which the relevant political subdivision is located or in the Thurston county superior court to enjoin a covered jurisdiction from implementing a covered practice and to compel the governing body of the covered jurisdiction to comply with the requirements under subsection (1) of this section.

  5. If the attorney general objects to a covered practice submitted by a covered jurisdiction, the covered jurisdiction may appeal the objection in superior court of the county in which the relevant political subdivision is located or in the Thurston county superior court. No other parties may file an action to appeal an objection by the attorney general to a covered practice nor intervene in any such action brought by the covered jurisdiction. Due to the frequency and urgency of elections, actions brought pursuant to this section shall be subject to expedited proceedings.

  6. In any action under this section, the court has discretion to stay the implementation of the covered practice until it issues its final order or determination. An action under this subdivision does not preclude, bar, or limit any other actions that may be brought regarding the covered policy in any way, including actions brought under other sections of chapter 29A.92 RCW.

Section 3

  1. An action may be filed by any aggrieved party in any of the following circumstances:

    1. The attorney general has issued a certification of no objection to a covered policy in violation of section 2 of this act;

    2. The secretary of state has identified a list of covered jurisdictions that is inconsistent with the criteria under section 1 of this act, including the failure to designate a covered jurisdiction that meets the criteria under section 1 of this act; or

    3. To compel the governing body of the covered jurisdiction to institute an action for a declaratory judgment or to seek issuance of a certification of no objection from the attorney general prior to adopting or implementing the covered practice.

  2. An action to appeal the attorney general's certificate of no objection must be filed in superior court of the county in which the relevant political subdivision is located or in the Thurston county superior court.

  3. In any claim under this section, the court has discretion to stay the implementation of the covered practice until it issues its final order or determination. A claim under this subdivision does not preclude, bar, or limit any other claims that may be brought regarding the covered policy in any way, including claims brought under other sections of chapter 29A.92 RCW. Review of the attorney general's determination under subsection (1)(a) of this section is de novo.

  4. For purposes of this section, an "aggrieved person" may include any organization whose:

    1. Membership includes individuals aggrieved by a violation of this section; or

    2. Mission would be frustrated by a violation of this section, including but not limited to an entity who would expend or divert resources to fulfill its mission as a result of such violation.

  5. An organization described under subsection (4) of this section may not be compelled to disclose the identity of any specific member to pursue a claim on behalf of its members.

Section 4

  1. No later than July 1st of each even-numbered year, the secretary of state shall by rule and in consultation with the attorney general, the office of financial management, and other relevant agencies, designate those political subdivisions which qualify as covered jurisdictions pursuant to section 1 of this act based on the best available data from the United States census bureau, the most recent American community survey, or other data of comparable quality collected by a federal, state, or local agency. The secretary of state shall provide written notice to the covered jurisdiction of the designation. A determination made pursuant to this subsection is effective on the date that the written notice is sent.

  2. The office of the attorney general shall maintain a publicly accessible website containing the following information:

    1. A list of all covered jurisdictions, to be updated biannually;

    2. All submissions for a certificate of no objection and actions filed in superior court for a declaratory judgment certifying that the covered practice meets the standard in section 2 of this act, including any supporting documents submitted by the covered entity; and

    3. The status and disposition of each submission under (b) of this subsection.

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