Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D)
Leading Off
● Washington: On Monday, the state of Washington took great strides toward making voting easier, more accessible, and more equitable when Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed several bills into law to expand voting rights. These measures will take effect in 2019 and include automatic voter registration; allowing voters to register and cast a ballot on the same day, including on Election Day; letting 16- and 17-year-olds "pre-register" so that they’ll be automatically added to the voter rolls once they turn 18; and a bill known as the Washington Voting Rights Act, which is aimed at increasing Latino representation in local elections.
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Importantly, the automatic registration measure isn't just limited to those who obtain a driver's license or state ID card at the state Department of Licensing. Instead, it will also direct other state agencies to assess their ability to automatically register voters, and provide the state with a justification if they can’t. Assuming other agencies do start to provide automatic registration, that will greatly enhance the program’s reach.
Meanwhile, the Washington Voting Rights Act has long been a goal of civil rights activists. Following in the footsteps of California, this measure empowers county and municipal governments to switch from electing all of their officials at-large to electing them using individual districts. The law will also make it easier for cities to avoid costly federal voting rights lawsuits, while also allowing citizens to formally notify local governments about potential discriminatory election systems without having to resort to the courts.
Switching to districts-based elections will empower Latino voters especially, since many localities in agriculture-heavy eastern Washington in particular have large Latino minorities who can't elect their preferred candidates in at-large races where the white majority opposes them. A federal lawsuit forced the city Yakima to adopt districts a few years ago, leading to the election of its first-ever Latina city council member in 2015, and this sort of change could soon become widespread. Indeed, in the 10 counties in the state with the highest Latino populations, there are no Latino county commissioners at all.
Finally, the pre-registration law goes beyond offering it as an option for eligible teenagers. It requires high school social studies classes to establish voter registration events, and the state's chief education official will be required to disseminate registration materials for eligible students. These provisions are important because actively encouraging students to pre-register instead of just passively giving them the choice to do so will likely lead to increased participation.
These new laws were only possible because Democrats retook the majority in the state Senate in a pivotal 2017 special election, giving the party unified control over state government for the first time since Inslee became governor in 2013. Voting rights shouldn't be a partisan issue, but Republicans had blocked these measures from even getting a vote. Consequently, Washington's expansion of voting rights should serve as an example for what Democrats should pursue, both in the state governments they currently control and in any states where they gain power this November, since there's so much more that could be done to protect and expand the right to vote.
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