Participants in the Walk the Line, Rock the Vote event pose for a group photo.

By Alison McCaffree, Redistricting Issue Chair, LWV of Washington

This fall, Cindy Olivas, former President of LWV of Yakima County, and Alison McCaffree, LWVWA’s Redistricting Issue Chair, partnered to create a redistricting education project for people in Yakima and Sunnyside. At two educational talks, attendees engaged enthusiastically and challenged the status quo. Olivas and McCaffree next organized a Walk the Line, Rock the Vote event on Oct.10, 2026. A dedicated group of people assembled on a beautiful fall morning to walk the streets in the city of Yakima on the line between Legislative District 14 and Legislative District 15. Neighbors on one side of the street are in a different district than the other side. This event highlighted that when redistricting is done right, the voice of the voters is heard.

Why Yakima?
The Yakima Valley is the location of a long battle for representation by Latino citizens. In 2024, five Latino citizens from Yakima Valley sued and won a discrimination case that caused the redrawing of the Washington State legislative district lines (Soto Palmer v Hobbs↗️). On October 5, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States threw out this decision. The Court called on the lower courts to review the Soto Palmer case considering the April 2026 Louisiana v Callais decision↗️ that gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Join Cindy and Alison and the other members of the Washington Redistricting Reform Taskforce to work toward redistricting reform. The Task Force meets every month on the third Wednesday at 2pm.

For more information contact Alison McCaffree.