FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alberto Lammers
alammers@luskin.ucla.edu
UCLA Voting Rights Project Files Legal Challenge Against Franklin PUD
SEATTLE (September 10, 2024) — The UCLA Voting Rights Project (UCLA VRP), along with the Morfin Law firm, has filed a complaint under the Washington Voting Rights Act against the Franklin PUD, seeking to rectify long-standing issues of racial vote dilution and ensure fair representation for the Latino community in Franklin County.
This legal action follows a notice letter sent to the agency in June 2024. It challenges the hybrid at-large electoral system currently employed by the Franklin PUD, which has systematically prevented Latino candidates from winning elections. Despite significant Latino population growth in the region, no Latino has been elected to the PUD commission in over two decades.
“Our filing today builds on our ongoing efforts to ensure that all communities in Franklin County have a voice in the administration of their public utilities,” said Sonni Waknin, program manager and counsel at the UCLA VRP. “The current voting system not only contravenes the Washington Voting Rights Act but also contradicts the democratic values of equal and fair representation.”
The complaint points to the at-large voting system as a primary barrier to Latino representation, exacerbated by racially polarized voting and districting practices that split Latino voters, diluting their electoral power. These practices have significant implications, particularly following recent decisions by the Franklin PUD to raise utility rates across Franklin County.
In 2022, Franklin County settled a similar lawsuit brought under the Washington Voting Rights Act, acknowledging the existence of polarized voting and promising reforms. However, the necessary changes to the Franklin PUD’s election system have not been implemented.
“We need fair representation at every level of politics, because politics affects us at every level.” stated Mr. Morfin. “That’s why it is important to get fair representation at the PUD districts, where residents are potentially unfairly affected by utility rates, partly because they have less of a say in who represents them on the Commission.”
The UCLA VRP seeks not only a declaration that the current electoral system violates the law but also a court order to adopt a new election system that ensures Latino voters can elect candidates of their choice, reflecting the community’s demographic reality.
ABOUT THE UCLA VOTING RIGHTS PROJECT
Founded in 2018 by civil rights attorney Chad W. Dunn, J.D, and voting rights social science expert Matt Barreto, Ph.D. as part of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, the UCLA Voting Rights Project addresses overlooked yet monumental gaps in the field of voting rights. The UCLA Voting Rights Project tackles questions of how to train young lawyers and researchers, support the development of new legal and methodological theories for voting rights cases, and advance policy work, to ensure that there will be a new generation of leaders who are pursuing efforts to guarantee all citizens have equal and fair access to our democracy. The UCLA Voting Rights Project is housed within the Luskin School of Public Affairs.
To learn more about the UCLA Voting Rights Project, please visit https://44.245.141.20/votingrights.
