Washington State: study shows at-large election decreases Hispanic electoral success in Sunnyside
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports: A newly released study says the election system in this mostly Hispanic town unfairly keeps Hispanics off the City Council.
And, while Sunnyside's city manager called the research flawed and "bogus," one of the nation's top voting-rights advocates thinks the report is on to something.
The research, part of a Whitman College report titled "The State of the State for Washington Latinos: 2006," concludes that the city's at-large elections violate the federal Voting Rights Act by establishing barriers to political representation of Hispanics.
In other words, the research states that allowing every Sunnyside voter to vote for all seven council seats produces different results than if the city were divided into voting districts. -- Yakima Herald Republic Online - Home Page - Yakima, Washington News, Classifieds, Information, Advertising