Thursday, March 28, 2024

Washington Supreme Court declines to make new district boundary maps

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OLYMPIA - After the Washington State Redistricting Commission submitted their unfinished redistricting plan with the Congressional District Boundary Map and the Legislative District Boundary Maps moments after their November 15 deadline, commissioners knew that their late submission would require a final decision from the Washington Supreme Court. On Dec. 3, the court decided to decline making new boundary maps and accept the commission’s late submission.
The redistricting commission had narrowly missed their Nov. 15 deadline due to technical difficulties and the delayed 2020 census results. Democratic commissioners Brady Piñero Walkinshaw and April Sims, along with Republican commissioners Paul Graves and Joe Fain, agreed on the framework of the redistricting plan but did not come to an agreement on the final plan itself. The plan and redistricting maps were subsequently sent to the Washington Supreme Court.
"After reviewing the submissions and considering the constitutional and statutory framework as a whole, we conclude it is not necessary for the court to assume responsibility for adoption of redistricting maps  under  the  present  circumstances."
The court further wrote, "This is not a situation in which the Supreme Court must step in because the Commission has failed to agree on a plan it believes  complies  with  state  and  federal  requirements.    The  court  concludes  that  the  primary  purpose of achieving a timely redistricting plan would be impeded, not advanced, by rejecting the Commission’s completed work."
 

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