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2016 Op. Wash. Att'y Gen. 1 (2016)

handle is hein.sag/sagwa2016 and id is 1 raw text is: 




          Washington State
          Office of the A ttorney (eneral
          Attorney General Bob Ferguson







  AUTHORITY OF CODE CITES TO MODIFY SYSTEM

  FOR ELECTING CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO COMPLY

  WITH FEDERAL VOTING RIGHTS ACT





AGO 2016 No. 1 - Jan 28 2016

Attorney General Bob Ferguson


ELECTIONS-CITIES AND TOWNS-FEDERAL PREEMPTION-Authority Of Code Cites To Modify System For Electing City Council
Members To Comply With Federal Voting Rights Act

1.State law allows a code city to divide into wards for use at the primary for nominating candidates for the city council but requires
that all city council members be elected at large at the general election.

2.A code city may choose to use wards for both nominating candidates in the primary and for electing city council members at the
general election if, but only if, the city has a strong basis in evidence for concluding that Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act
compels the city to do so.



                                             January 28, 2016




The Honorable Pam Roach
State Senator, District 31
PO Box 40431                                              Cite As:
Olympia, WA 98504-0431                                    AGO 2016 No. 1

Dear Senator Roach:

     By letter previously acknowledged, you have requested our opinion on the following question:

       May a non-charter code city subject to RCW 35A.12.180, having a large minority population, adopt a district-based general
       election procedure to avoid a potential violation of section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act?


BRIEF ANSWER

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