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Contact:
Filiz Satir, Director of Communications (360) 586-9000 Ethan Moreno, Executive Director (360) 586-9000 |
“Public opinion is the cornerstone of our redistricting effort,” said Chairman Graham Johnson of the Washington State Redistricting Commission, an agency tasked with redrawing the 2002 legislative and congressional district boundaries.
“We want and encourage the public to share their thoughts and priorities regarding the state’s political districts,”Johnson said. “The most informed and fair decisions will be made if people come to the table and offer their ideas.”
Every 10 years, officials in every state use census data reshape the political landscape by redrawing legislative and congressional district boundaries. Washington is one of a dozen states that assign the exercise to a bipartisan commission. Until 1981, the Washington State Legislature redrew the boundaries.
In 1983, Washington voters approved an initiative that created an independent redistricting commission. Earlier this year, legislative leaders from the four caucuses appointed four voting members to the 2000-2001 commission. Those members, in turn, appointed Chairman Johnson. The four voting commissioners are Richard Derham (R), Dean Foster (D), John Giese (R), and Bobbi Krebs-McMullen (D).
“Redistricting really is democracy in action,” said Ethan Moreno, the commission’s executive director. “While it may seem like a rather arcane subject, it’s done for an important reason — to ensure that people in legislative and congressional districts have a fair and equal share in the way they’re governed.”
Specifically, the United States and state constitutions require all states to redraw political boundaries and ensure that each district contains approximately an equal number of people. Washington’s Redistricting Commission is in the midst of analyzing specific population data to achieve this end.
Some data require little interpretation. For instance since 1990, Washington grew by 1 million people and today boasts 5.9 million residents. That, in turn, means that district populations must be drawn to have about 120,288 people in each legislative district and about 654,902 people in each congressional district.
Specific attention to each district is crucial. Yet, the importance of how each of the nine congressional and 49 legislative pieces fits into the redistricting puzzle is significant. Redistricting is not just about making a couple of minor boundary changes in one district and calling it good. Redrawing district lines is a matter of statewide change — the kind that will affect every district.
“Washington’s redistricting practices are unique among other states,” said Moreno, adding, “We’re committed to ensuring the ‘one-person, one vote’ ideal.”
Put another way, said Moreno: “The vote of one person living in Bellevue should be equal to the vote of one resident living in Spokane.”
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