Washington's Redistricting Commission Fails To Meet Deadline

WASHINGTON — After nearly two months of debate, the four members of the Washington State Redistricting Commission failed to reach a consensus on how to reshape the state's congressional and legislative districts, commissioners announced Tuesday.

Districts are redrawn every decade after each new census, and Washington adopted a commission to oversee the process in 1991. The two Democrats and two Republicans on the commission had a firm deadline to vote on a final plan and transmit the new maps by midnight, which they failed to meet.

The proposed maps drawn up by each of the four commissioners in September drew criticism along party lines, with the chair of the State Democratic Party calling the GOP plan "gerrymandering," and the State Republican Party chair casting the Democrats' plan as "the definition of political hackery."

Still, as the Washington State News Wire's Austin Jenkins reports, the failure to reach an agreement Monday night marked the first in the commission's history.

Signs of trouble emerged in the final hours leading up to the deadline. According to Crosscut, commissioners largely held discussions in private and quickly ended their meeting after the deadline without fanfare or releasing any information about what had transpired. As The Seattle Times notes, the commissioners appeared to hold a vote on the maps at the very last minute but missed the deadline to approve a letter to the legislature detailing their plan.

A news conference initially scheduled Tuesday morning was canceled abruptly, and the commission released a brief statement an hour later.

The statement reads:

"Last night, after substantial work marked by mutual respect and dedication to the important task, the four voting commissioners on the state redistricting commission were unable to adopt a districting plan by the midnight deadline. The late release of the 2020 census data combined with technical challenges hampered the commission's work considerably. Pursuant to RCW 44.05.100, the Supreme Court now has jurisdiction to adopt a districting plan. The commissioners have every faith that the Supreme Court will draw maps that are fair and worthy of the people of Washington."

The Washington State Supreme Court will have through April 2022 to complete its redistricting plan.