Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
New bill protects voter rights
COLFAX – County Commissioners held a meeting at 9 a.m. on Monday, March 13.
Commissioner Art Swannack, of Colfax, updated information regarding current bills affecting the county and updates on the progress of pending bills.
Bill 1048 passed through the House of Representatives and is now currently sitting in the Senate.
“It was amended so as to slow down people from suing the county,” said Swannack, “One of the amendments changes is that a person has to have legal standing in court against a legal rights act. With this change, you have to have standing in Whitman County in order to sue the county for a legal rights action.”
House Bill (HB) 1048 is a lengthy bill that is set to protect voting rights among Washingtonians.
Dennis Tracy, Whitman County’s Prosecuting Attorney, believes that this bill will have little impact on Whitman County due to its demographic and target audience.
Tracy, although serving the community for thirty years, admits that the complexity of HB 1048 complicates its meaning.
“It’s a complex bill,” he said, “I do not think it will have a significant impact on this county. I am not aware of any minority groups that have had their voting rights diluted by the way the offices are organized.
HB 1048 is not a bill aimed at tackling election fraud. Rather, Tracy reads the new bill to detail that certain minorities’ voting power has been diluted in the way that the districts are laid out.
The new bill is coupled with SB 5047, another new bill to enhance the voting rights act in Washington State, and as of Tuesday, March 14, 2023, the bill is currently sitting in committee in the Senate.
The bill was scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government and Elections at 1:30 P.M on Tuesday, March 14.
The bill is scheduled for executive session in the Senate Committee on State Government and Elections at 8:00 A.M on Friday, March 17.
Olivia Harnack is a Journalist at the Whitman County Gazette. Olivia is enrolled at University of Idaho and is majoring in digital film studies. She serves in the United States Army National Guard and is proud to serve Whitman County.
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