BILL REQ. #:  S-1615.2 

Read first time 02/21/13.   Referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.

     AN ACT Relating to redistricting; amending RCW 44.05.090; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that there is a need to encourage the development of competitive districts in the redistricting plan adopted by the redistricting commission. Democracy is defined primarily by the accountability of the elected to the electors, an accountability that is in turn shaped through competitive elections. The way in which districts are delineated has profound implications for the public's engagement with politics, for the character of political representation, for electoral competition, and for partisan fairness. Only through an appropriately competitive partisan environment can one of the central goals of democratic politics be realized: That the policy outcomes of the political process are responsive to the interests and views of citizens. It is the intent of the legislature to require that the districts in the redistricting plan be competitive.

Sec. 2   RCW 44.05.090 and 1990 c 126 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     In the redistricting plan:
     (1) Wherever possible, districts must be competitive such that the majority of districts have no greater than a three percent advantage for any one political party based on an average of the votes cast for the three offices with the most votes cast in the last election preceding the adoption of the redistricting plan.
     (2) Districts shall have a population as nearly equal as is practicable, excluding nonresident military personnel, based on the population reported in the federal decennial census.
     (((2))) (3) To the extent consistent with subsection (((1))) (2) of this section the commission plan should, insofar as practical, accomplish the following:
     (a) District lines should be drawn so as to coincide with the boundaries of local political subdivisions and areas recognized as communities of interest. The number of counties and municipalities divided among more than one district should be as small as possible;
     (b) Districts should be composed of convenient, contiguous, and compact territory. Land areas may be deemed contiguous if they share a common land border or are connected by a ferry, highway, bridge, or tunnel. Areas separated by geographical boundaries or artificial barriers that prevent transportation within a district should not be deemed contiguous; ((and))
     (c) Whenever practicable, a precinct shall be wholly within a single legislative district; and
     (d) Include the maximum number of districts that are competitive with no greater than a three percent advantage for any one political party based on an average of the votes cast for the three offices with the most votes cast in the last election preceding the adoption of the redistricting plan.
     (((3))) (4) The commission's plan and any plan adopted by the supreme court under RCW 44.05.100(4) shall provide for forty-nine legislative districts.
     (((4))) (5) The house of representatives shall consist of ninety-eight members, two of whom shall be elected from and run at large within each legislative district. The senate shall consist of forty- nine members, one of whom shall be elected from each legislative district.
     (((5))) (6) The commission shall exercise its powers to provide fair and effective representation and to encourage electoral competition. The commission's plan shall not be drawn purposely to favor or discriminate against any political party or group.