Washington Supreme Court Adopts Commission’s Maps

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Washington Supreme Court issued an order adopting the Washington State Redistricting Commission’s legislative and congressional maps, declining to take over the map-drawing process. Last month, the commission passed new maps by its midnight deadline on Nov. 15, but confusion arose around if the commission had actually sent the maps to lawmakers on time. Under state law, if the commission fails to complete its work by the deadline, the job of creating new legislative and congressional districts falls to the state Supreme Court.

The commission sent its maps to the court, but urged the justices to adopt the plans instead of creating their own. The court reviewed the maps and events and unanimously ruled today to adopt the maps. The order did acknowledge that the commission was not faultless, but ruled that it “met the constitutional deadline and substantially complied with the statutory deadline to transmit the matter to the legislature.” The court also empowered the commission to complete “any remaining tasks necessary” to finalize congressional and legislative districts and have them in place for the 2022 elections.

Read the order here.