U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to WA Voting Rights Act
Jordan Chavez fills out a new ballot at the Yakima County Elections office on Thursday, July 28, 2022. This was Chavez’s first time voting. (Amanda Snyder/Cascade PBS)
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a state ruling that rejected a challenge to the Washington Voting Rights Act, upholding the constitutionality of the law.
The decision ends James Gimenez’ constitutional challenge of the state voting rights act. Gimenez, a Latino voter, claimed that three other Latino voters who sued Franklin County for suppressing their voting rights did not have standing because the WVRA provides protections for minority groups, and Latinos are the numerical majority in Franklin County.
Gimenez filed a motion to dismiss the case, then appealed to the Washington Supreme Court, arguing that the state’s voting rights act did not equally protect all races that end up in the minority.
The Washington Supreme Court ruled against Gimenez last year, stating that the three Latino voters could sue the county because the Washington Voting Rights Act indeed protects all Washington voters from discrimination on the basis of race, color and language minority.
The original case was concluded two years ago, after the three voters, along with the League of United Latin American Citizens, settled with Franklin County in May 2022. As part of that settlement, commissioners will now be elected in a district-based system for both the primary and general elections.
The state passed the Washington Voting Rights Act in 2018, with the intention of streamlining voting rights act enforcement and outlining steps to address remedies through resolution instead of through the courts.