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鈥淓ffective 5 p.m. today, I鈥檓 resigning my role as the chair of the Washington State Redistricting Commission.鈥�

Those words came from Sarah Augustine 鈥� the non-partisan chair of the Washington State Redistricting Commission 鈥� at the close of and it took many by surprise, including some state Democratic leaders that Augustine said were to blame for the decision.

鈥淚 was surprised to see that,鈥� said House Speaker Laurie Jinkins when asked about Augustine鈥檚 announcement Tuesday.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 followed that all very closely. Honestly, my big piece of work on redistricting was appointing a redistricting commissioner,鈥� Jinkins added, referencing her selection of Democratic Rep. April Simms as one of the four partisan commissioners appointed to the commission by the Legislature.

The commission 鈥� made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, along with the non-voting, non-partisan chairperson 鈥� was tasked with the once-in-a-decade job of redrawing statewide legislative and congressional district maps based on the latest data from the most recent Census to ensure each district represents an equal number of people.

At least three of four members must agree to the new boundaries, which must be created as equal in population as possible. Commissioners are not supposed to gerrymander for partisan advantage or discriminate against any group. They鈥檙e also supposed to avoid splitting up cities and other political subdivisions.

The redistricting commission this time around faced many challenges, including having to engage with the public virtually and other issues largely tied to the pandemic.

Then, when it came time to vote on the final maps, they failed to post the maps online in time and missed a deadline on the final vote. Still, commissioners argued they had done the hard work of all four commissioners reaching consensus after taking into account the input they received from the public.

But, some felt the new maps 鈥� specifically the boundaries for the Yakima Valley 鈥� illegally diluted the Latino vote in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act, which led to a lawsuit.

Lawsuit claims Washington鈥檚 new redistricting maps discriminate against Latino voters

On Monday, the commission met to discuss potential steps they could take related to that lawsuit, noting that Democratic leaders, the only defendants named in the lawsuit, had refused to defend the new maps.

鈥淣amed defendants in the lawsuit are the Secretary of State, Senate Majority Leader, and House Speaker, all of whom have refused to defend the final redistricting plans which were amended by the Legislature on February 7th, with 44 votes in the Senate and 95 votes in the House. The failure of Washington State leadership to defend the redistricting plans adopted by the Bipartisan Commission puts the commission in the position to potentially act as an intervener in defense of the plans,鈥� Augustine explained to the commissioners and viewing public.

But that potential intervention failed when the two Democratic commissioners voted against intervening, splitting the vote with the two Republican commissioners who voted in favor of intervention. But that split vote meant the effort failed.

Then, at the end of the meeting, Augustine made her resignation announcement, specifically blaming state Democratic leaders for their failure to defend the new maps as the reason for her decision.

Augustine read from a prepared public statement, which stated, in part: 鈥淚n any mediation, the parties have to commit to a good faith effort, and that is not happening here. By failing to defend the redistricting plans agreed to by consensus state authorities have chosen to undermine the process and dismiss the compromises undertaken in the public interest. These actions effectively pit two vulnerable communities against each other in my community. My integrity prevents me from participating in it.鈥�

Read the full statement:

Thirteen months ago, the voting commissioners of the Washington State redistricting commission appointed me to the position of non-voting chair. They themselves have been appointed by the four caucuses of the Washington State Legislature to ensure voting districts would be drawn fairly, where everyone would be equitably represented. They asked that I serve as chair because I’m a professional mediator. And they voiced to me that I brought skills they hoped would help me to guide a process that would lead to a positive result that has mutually identified values and goals that lead to a redistricting plan that reflects the interests of all parties.

In November, the Commission did just that. The voting commissioners adopted by consensus redistricting plans for both congressional and legislative districts. They were able to successfully form consensus during one of the most politically polarized eras in recent history during an international pandemic, where they were unable to meet with each other for most of the tenure of the Commission, in a session truncated by Census data that arrived four months late, and by a constitutional amendment requiring completion six weeks early, a negotiation process presumed to be six months long was completed in two and a half month. accomplishing this task took courage. Commissioners had at times to endure political pressure from powerful influences outside the commission. It took diligence. Each of the commissioners in this historic commission is engaged in full time work. In addition to their roles as volunteer commissioners, it took humility and collaboration. Each commissioner was required to subjugate his or her interests, to the goals and values they admittedly agreed to pursue on behalf of the public in the best interests of all Washingtonians.

This historic Redistricting Commission launched the largest public outreach effort ever, and received more public input than in any prior Commission. It was hard work, and it took a great deal of character. I applaud each of you, my colleagues, the voting commissioners. I’m a professional leader. My job is to bring parties together to identify shared values and common goals. And we did that together. But this process has now moved on to something else. Now that the primary action and decisions are made by those outside the commission, and there’s no place for me in it. I have nothing more to contribute.

For this reason, effective 5pm today, I’m resigning my role as the chair of the Washington State redistricting commission. I will return gladly to my role as the direction director of the mediation center. In any mediation, the parties have to commit to a good faith effort, and that is not happening here. By failing to defend the redistricting plans agreed to by consensus state authorities have chosen to undermine the process and dismiss the compromises undertaken in the public interest. These actions effectively pit two vulnerable communities against each other in my community. My integrity prevents me from participating in it.

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