July 12, 2022 - On 11/16/21, the commission passed the responsibility to decide the maps to the Courts but did end up producing maps they negotiated passed the deadline. On 12/3/21, the Courts decided to accept the maps. On 2/8/22 The Legislature passed technical updates to the maps suggested by county auditors and election officials.  On 2/23/22 The commission has agreed on a settlement on two lawsuits that attested they did not follow the Open Public Meetings Act. Two ongoing federal lawsuits attesting the maps violate the federal VRA are still in process. Trials scheduled for early 2023. The maps will not change for the 2022 Elections. 

Current Maps:

2022 WA Congressional Maps - with an overlay of 2012-2021 districts (as approved by Legislature on 2/8/22)

2022 WA Legislative Maps - with an overlay of the 2012-2021 districts  (as approved by Legislature on 2/8/22)

Mapping Input Overview

Your voting power starts here. Where the lines are drawn for Legislative and Congressional districts affects your voting power for the next 10 years.  LWVWA put together map solutions below. We worked together with our Local Leagues and our coalition partners: Redistricting Justice Washington, Win/Win, More Equitable Democracy and the Washington Community Alliance to draw maps that represent communities of interest first. These maps comply with all redistricting statutes and aim to balance representation for all residents of Washington. 

2021Commission website: Redistricting.wa.gov

Maps - LWVWA Solutions to Legislative & Congressional Districts

The League of Women Voters of Washington held a parallel process to develop new legislative and congressional district solutions – hosting listening session and drafting maps. Alison McCaffree is our Redistricting Issue Chair and led the work. We have executed a statewide, transparent, nonpartisan process to develop maps resulting in these example solutions that put communities of interest first. The following maps were submitted to the Washington State Redistricting Commission on September 23, 2021 for their consideration with the solution narratives. 

See the official Press Release. 

Maps have been drawn with the following ranked priorities (click picture to enlarge):

Maps Summary: Executive Summary - Letter to Commissioners

Legislative Districts:
Legislative map solution narrative documents. Click here.
Map: https://davesredistricting.org/join/129a61ac-6e8f-4b9a-9afa-9a19feb56298

Endorse this map here. 

Congressional Districts:
Congressional map solution narrative document. Click Here. 

Recommended Map:
Map: https://davesredistricting.org/join/fb321178-e606-4897-b421-38bd313cf305

Additional Example Map: (developed before Colville Tribes' press release clarifying their position)  Map: https://davesredistricting.org/join/163fbd3a-f48e-49b0-88f8-780cd5af99c2

Endorse one of these maps here. 

Commissioners' Maps

November 18, 2021 - After a confusing last meeting, the commission announced that it had failed to reach an agreement on the maps before the Constitutional deadline. The decision on the maps now goes to the WA State Supreme Court. However, after the deadline, the commissioners released the following maps as the results of their negotiations. In a press availability on 11/18/21 all four voting commissioner's restated their support for the maps and the hope that the WA State Supreme Court will approve these maps. The court has until April 18, 2022 to approve maps. 

Link to maps on the Commission's site

https://www.redistricting.wa.gov/final-maps

DRA version of the Commission's FINAL maps

Legislative: https://davesredistricting.org/join/3ee18c1d-a9ea-4c4b-8ee0-de5c241ddc90

Congressional: https://davesredistricting.org/join/73a73133-3f50-4bac-ad88-cfc12a8bd3ca

Commissioner's proposed maps. 

The four voting redistricting commissioners released 8 sets of maps in September. 
Legislative Maps Links on Commission Website

LWVWA Analysis Matrix - Legislative Maps

LEGISLATIVE Proposal in Dave's Redistricting App

Fain: https://davesredistricting.org/join/60276571-7179-4770-b5e9-ff754b80559c
Graves: https://davesredistricting.org/join/0dfcd9e3-0b8f-4603-9bde-50436b32af0c
Sims: https://davesredistricting.org/join/f1de57e4-df9e-455c-b081-fc03c071e8ce
Walkinshaw: https://davesredistricting.org/join/20a8952b-9c40-4b74-a754-025fb725ddd7

Congressional Maps LInks on Commission Website

LWVWA Analysis Matrix - Congressional Maps

CONGRESSIONAL Proposals in Dave's Redistricting App

Fain: https://davesredistricting.org/join/6b91871e-2583-4c74-b2de-d6625274d04b

Graves: https://davesredistricting.org/join/bf090262-8686-4928-a59c-dacf53584bcb

Sims: https://davesredistricting.org/join/18b47196-b1b6-4601-a2e6-5b456b55c2cf

Walkinsaw: https://davesredistricting.org/join/b00b6e89-faa3-412b-82ff-9deec2e47c08

LWVWA Draft Maps

These maps are meant for discussion purposes and should not be considered the position of LWVWA.  After each listening session maps were adjusted according to feedback we heard. If you have questions or comments please email Alison McCaffree amccaffree@lwvwa.org. 

4/29/21 :   Draft 1 LDs,      Draft 1 CDs
6/7/21 :     Draft 2 LDs,     Draft 2A CDs,      Draft 2B CDs  --- 6/10 Listening Session Recording    6/10 Slides

7/12/21:    Draft 3 LDs,    CDs:    Draft 3B,    Draft 3C,     Draft 3D  -- 7/15 Listening Session Recording,   7/15 Slides

8/12/21:   Draft 4 LDs,     CDs:   Draft 4B      Draft 4C    Draft 4E  --  8/12 Listening Session Recording,  8/12 Slides

8/25/21: These drafts are updated with 2020 Census Data (not adjusted for group quarters)
                   Draft 5 LDs,     CDs:  Draft 5B     Draft5C     Draft6E (5E had an error)

9/15/21: These drafts are updated with 2020 Census Data that HAS been adjusted for group quarters per Washington State statute.    Draft 6 LDs       Draft 6C CDs

Map Input Gathered To Date (8/1/21)

Listening Sessions -  Mapping listening session have had conversation with your community about what is right and what is wrong about the current districts. How can they better represent your community? We hosted over 40 listening session across the state. 

Washington has been divided up into regions and then by smaller areas of county of parts of counties. Scroll down to read the summary of the input we have received on each area of the state. These ideas will be considered when we are putting together our mapping solutions. Remember that a good map is balance between all needs for representation. Our goal is maps that maximize the number of people that feel like they can elect who they want to represent them.

Please send any input to Alison McCaffree at amccaffree@lwvwa.org. 

North West

Skagit Co

• The Skagit Valley is split into multiple districts - desire to keep it together

• Make the 39th district more competitive
• Make District 39 more compact - it is difficult to run in this district, driving up and down Hwy 9
• The 10th district has a similar non-competitive problem 
• The 39th has a low POC percentage. Would like to see increased POC representation. There is a large Latino population in the Arlington area.
• Mt. Vernon is currently divided into three LDs. Voices of those who live in Mt. Vernon are not heard as one.
• Environmental & climate change impact in the Skagit Valley is important.

• The issues in rural districts (e.g. internet access) may be very different from more populated/urban districts. So rural and populated areas may need different Congressional representatives.

Snohomish Co

• Make the 10th electorally competitive

• Arlington may be facing significant population growth based on the new manufacturing facilities being built around the airport– Cascade Industrial Center.   in the next 3 years. (10,000 new jobs and 2400 housing units during that time). Take this into consideration as the district grows.It would be nice to be in a district represented by people who would understand the challenges of that growth. Currently, 39th district reps and senator live in Sultan, Sedro Woolley, and Granite Falls.

• Includes all of Edmonds into one districts  – it is currently split.

• The 44th LD currently has two POC representatives. Would this new map change this fact?

• 39th LD – supportive of combining Mt. Vernon and Arlington into one LD.

• Request to please keep Bothell together, including unincorporated areas.

• 38th and 44th LD: Consider moving the boundary of the 44th west to Homeacres Road. Residents in the Fobes Hill area consider themselves more aligned with Snohomish than Everett.
  

• Desire to keep School Districts aligned with legislative districts

Whidbey Island

• Keep Whidbey island all in one district. Whidbey island has military and retirees. Retirees consider themselves one 'island community'
• Oak Harbor has lots of temporary residents that have different interest than those on the rest of Whidbey - permanent residents of the Salish Sea. The second tend to vote for ecology, schools and hospitals
• Non Oak Harbor Whidbey Is. has a lot in common with Jefferson Co, Island Co and Skagit (except delta & Mt Vernon)

Olympic Peninsula / Kitsap Co

Peninsula

• Port Townsend is the only city in 6th.  It is more like Bainbridge Island than rest of 6th.  Draw the boundaries so that PT can be included with cities similar to them.
  
• Kitsap Co - roughly 265K people - must have 2 districts; currently has 3
• North Whidbey is very different from South Whidbey.  North has a lot of part time residents.  What if South Whidbey went to district 6?
  
• Ideally 24th district would include Aberdeen and Montesano and keep Elma.  People from 24th Need to drive all the way around the harbor to get there.
• Ocean Shores should stay in the 19th.  

Kitsap Co

• Bremerton is split into 3 districts. This hurts the people of color who live in Bremerton because they are put with mostly white and rural population outside Bremerton. 
• 35th is a large and  mostly rural district. Those in more urban settings feel less represented.
• Bremerton people who are represented by the 23rd feel overpowered by Poulsbo and Bainbridge
• The peninsula is a natural boundary and is an obvious dividing line. 
• Bainbridge Is. is best represented by the 23rd LD
• Bremerton and Port Orchard share a common inlet and there is lots of interactions
• Sunnyslope, Bremerton Junction, Fernwood and Bremerton Airport have more in common with Port Orchard & Bremerton then with the 35th. Difficult to decide where the dividing line should be. 

North Seattle

• Keep Burke Gilman trail in one district
• North Seattle neighborhoods are changing too
• Traffic is a huge issue. Make maps make sense for bikes and traffic. Keep things along a major highway more in North Seattle
• Special interests on Aurora street (99) could be a challenge;  seems like that interest should be kept together
• Keep communities of color together, with a focus on immigrant/language diversity making sure districts don't cut through language density of cultural centers
• 40, 000 student population in U-district and they were counted but many may not be WA state resident.
• I like that overlake neighborhood of Bellevue kept with Redmond, it's more aligned
• Keep Medina should be kept together - perhaps Medina, Mercer Island, and Beaux Arts. Debate about if the wealthy areas along Lake Washington should be kept together. 
• 9th CD move south to keep communities of interest in South King Co. together
• 8th CD seems contrived/ gerrymandered - make more contiguous and compact. 8th CD was a compromise district, created specifically to be purple. 

Central & East Seattle

• 43rd contains a high number of eligible voters, all in Seattle.
• The 37th and the 43rd have the same number of residents after redistricting, but certainly not the same number of eligible voters and part of the the 37th is not in Seattle.
  
• (Re: Seattle city council districts) Yesler Terrace remains in one district, all of Sandpoint is in another, all of High Point in another, and SE Seattle contains several that are not divided. None are more than 50% low income, but many have a good voting bloc of low income residents and service providers. 
•  Electeds in the 37th are not known to as many Seattle voters. This is true for the 11th as well.

South Seattle and South King Co

• Ensure that low income areas are not cracked or packed. A base of people with similar struggles, along with a base who cares in general about the community is more important than drawing districts that are a majority poverty.
• 11th seems gerrymandered - it is long and thin with lots of fingers.
• The long narrow districts for the 37th and 11th were done to ensure minority representation.
• It is good to remember that diversity/POC is not the same thing as poor. Some ethnically diverse areas or areas where new immigrants live are not poor.
• Keep Rainier Beach + all of City of Seattle in South Seattle in 37th LD
• Maintain Skyway in LD37, but is ok to give to 11th LD if it’s needed to create POC CVAP LD
• Tukwila with Renton/LD11 
• Keep Renton and Kent separated in different LDs
• Put SW Kent from 33rd → 30th LD if room is needed.

South Sound ( Pierco Co, Thurston Co) 

Pierce Co

• Debate on if Tacoma should be in the 6th Congressional. Argument for: balances amount of urban areas like Bremerton and Port Angeles. Argument against: 6th is mostly coastal and rural, so put Tacoma in the 10th. 
• E. Pierce Co in the 8th COngressional seems disconnected with the rest of the 8th which goes over the mountains to Ellensburg.
• People of color especially hispanic not represented in majority white districts. Adjust 2 districts to be more BIPOC. 
• 28th LD is large and spans from North of WA16 to Nisqually reservation
• Keep the Puyallup Reservation and tribal members together
• Keep Nisqually reservation together in one LD. 

Thurston Co

• 35th LD is large and runs from Bremerton to N. Olympia - difficult to represent diverse groups. 
• 10th CD was a new district last decade people just getting used to it. 
• 22nd LD
• 
  

South West WA

• Interested in increasing representation from people of color. There is only 18% do be sure not to split them up. LD 49 & 17 In order to elect people of color and for Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC) to have their voices heard, do not split the BIPOC community of interest.
• The unincorporated neighborhoods of Minnehaha and Hazel Dell are split off politically from the City from whom they receive services but are not eligible to vote for City positions, such as sheriff.
• Eliminate the wrap around districts so you don't travel through another to get the other side of the districts
• LD 49 Equal population requirements means that the City of Vancouver has to have more than one LD, effort should be made to insure it is only in 2 not 3. 
• LD 18 To preserve communities, include the Urban Growth Plan for areas of growth in determining LD lines:  Battleground is growing - and growing towards West I-5, Ridgefield is growing and growing East to I-5; Washougal has seen and will continue to see a lot of growth because of the industry; Camas is growing as well. 
• I-205 is definitely a sociological boundary. Preserve community of interest by recognizing that I-205 is a natural community boundary.
• Skamania Co. uses the Clark Co media and healthcare market not Yakima. Roads to Yakima not passable in the the winter only Hwy 14 or I-84 in Oregon are used. 
  

• Skamania County is part of the Portland Metropolitan Statistical Area and relates more as a west-side county than as an east-side county (King County stretches farther to the east than Skamania

• A community of interest is people who commute to Portland for work

• Urban vs Rural split is challenging as Washougal gets more urban and is still in the LD18

• The 18th as it currently is shaped is not competitive (balanced), which results in an unfair effect. In order to have your voice heard, the district must be competitive, otherwise, the party in office has no motivation to listen.

• CD 3 & 4 Do not split the Columbia River population in Skamania and Klickitat Counties from their community of interest in District 3
  

• LD 18 & LD 49 The Salmon Creek neighborhood could be in the 49th, the 17th or the 18th as it is in the convergence of the three districts. 
• LD 17 used to go all the way to Camas. The change resulted in a strange shape, dominated by one political party which gives the appearance of intentional Gerrymandering.
• LD 18 All of Battleground should be in LD 18. This can be done by moving the 14th east of the county line, squish the 17 toward the east and include more territory in the 20th. 
• LD 18 Ridgefield city is in the district but not all of the urban growth area is in the district.
• LD 49 has odd dip at top, please make effort to round it out, extending to the North to the County line. 
• LD 49 should extend along the river to the east, beyond I-205 

North Central WA

• It is a long way to travel in most North Central districts. Especially the 4th Congressional
• Think about the highways that connect this area when drawing districts. 
• Keep Okanogan Co whole in one LD and one CD
• Chelan and up river communities tie to Wenatchee
• Douglas Co and Chelan Co share healthcare, schools and business interests. The Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which includes both Chelan and Douglas counties, depends heavily upon agriculture as well as seasonal employment in retail and leisure and hospitality. 

South Central (LD 2, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 31)

Klickitat Co

• Not compact: Current LD covers a large, convoluted geographic area from Clark Co. to Yakima Co.(328,000 acres). Travel can amount to 4-5 hours, over Bleuett Pass.
• Not competitive nor representative of interests: Yakima metro area represents ~60% of voters  but only 5% of the geographic area.
• Extremely difficult for candidates from outside of Yakima to campaign or be competitive.
• Rural representation is removed from the large voting block of metro Yakima.
  
• Splitting or “cracking” of Yakama Nation voters, Yakima voters should be included in one LD.
• Columbia River; Interstate bridge crossings; Train transport, Environment, Drainages,  Scenic Area, Salmon, Energy, Dams
• Columbia River Valley;  Heritage preservation.
• Interstate Commerce and Employment opportunity
• Rural broadband access
• Media Market for Klickitat and Skamania  Co. is Portland not Yakima

Yakima Co

• Keep Yakama Reservation together in one LD

• Put other tribal lands + historically tribal lands in same LD – areas in Klickitat Co to the River and along Columbia River
• Clark Co section of LD14 makes no sense – hard to travel to that area.
• Yakama Nation people struggle with attention because City of Yakima gets resources
• Yakama has more in common with “Down Valley” towns like Wapato to Prosser
• Rural needs are different than urban needs
• Want to be able to elect Yakama member to LD
• Yakama Nation has more in common with agricultural lands in Benton County then Skamania County
• Yakama Nation still has fishing villages along Columbia River in Klickitat Co & Skamania Co.
• Desire to make District 15 majority BIPOC
• Possibly use City of Yakima districts to split City of Yakima for LD, but don’t cut City of Yakima along historically racial lines ( usually considered 16th Ave)
• NW Yakima (north of Summerview) more affluent and mostly white

Kittitas Co

• Remain in the 8th District with E. King and E. Pierce because many residents communte (16%), retirees from the westside, CWU students from west, common interests. Allows us to build on networks already there in the 8th. Keep 8th Swing. 
• Split current 13th LD is too spread out and not compact convenient and contiguous.  Has many different environments and economies. 
• Kittitas Co has a mixed economy, Lincoln Co is 3x by percentage the people in agriculture. 
• Keep Kittatas all in one LD - avoid a rivalry between parts of the county

North East WA

Colville Reservation

• Keep Colville Reservation together in one LD and one CD

• Colville tribe has many people who live off the official reservation land

• Having City of Omak in one district and the surrounding areas, in a different district splits families and the community

Spokane

City of Spokane

• Community of interest is the City of Spokane - urban area is the board expanse from mountains to stateline
• Keep Colville reservation in a single district - LD 7 works for that . 
• Spokane is used to being in the 5th CD, yakima used to being in the 4th CD
• Southside of Spokane is very progressive and don't want to lose that voice if combined with more rural areas
• Don't like the LD6 wrap around the Northern limits of Spokane and LD3
• Northern area of LD3 are changing to more conservative. There is strong leadership currently in LD3
• Don't Split Spokane or split Moses Lake
• LD3 has the lowest voting record and looks to have lost population
  
  

Spokane Valley to Idaho Border

• Spokane Valley and Liberty lake area gas its own character - so its a community of interest
• Caretakers of the State Park in the area, please keep in the LD 4. 
  

South East (LD 8, 9, 13, 16) (CD 4th and 6th)

TriCities

• Franklin Co and Pasco have similar economies with Walla Walla 

• Keeping distances lower will help candidates stay in touch with constituents (esp during Wheat harvest time)
• Large and growing Latinx population in Franklin Co / Pasco / SE Kennewick needs better representation
• Job patterns show people driving from Tricities to Walla Walla
• Columbia and Snake Rivers define/split the area - single district oversight would be useful
• Western Benton Co has common farming interests
• Difference between E. Kennewick and commercial Kennewick
• Urban Benton Co is a unique technology core near the Hanford facility "Downwind" of Hanford is to its Northwest (wind out of SE)

Columbia Co, Whitman Co

• University towns (Pullam, Walla Walla , Cheney) have common needs
• Waitsburg has more in common with Walla Walla then Dayton & Columbia Co. 
• Conell and Walla Walla both have prison population which will be redistributed
• Area is split between 4th and 5th Congressional district
• A higher education corridor in a CD all the way to Ellensburg (Central) would be interesting
• Grant Co and Adams Co have similar needs - so keep them together (split in current)

• Whitman county/ pullman's connection to Spokane is critical because of the Washington State University Medical School College of Pharmacy, and College of Nursing.

• Connection to TriCities is very important because of the Washington State University TriCities Campus, which offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

• Whitman County must be connected and not split as part of another district.
  

• The Pullman League supports the Congressional Map by Brady Pinero Walkinshaw.
  

• The Pullman League could support the Legislative Map by Brady Pinero Walkinshaw IF Whitman County is NOT split. This could be done by adding in the southeast portion of Whitman County and removing the northwest corner located in Grant County.