League of Women Voters of Seattle King County

Check out LWVSKC Committees and Join In!
Do you know about the LWVSKC Committees and how to join in? The LWSVKC currently has eight active Committees, including: Program, Economics and Taxation, Unite and Rise, Education, Investment, Voters Services, Youth Civics, and Girl Scouts. We will highlight one each week for the next few weeks. This week learn about Education...

Education ✏️📗🍎📖
The LWVSKC Education Committee primarily follows issues related to K-12 education. However, early childhood education opportunities and daycare issues deeply impact the well-being of the K-12 students and cannot be ignored, along with opportunities for all youth to engage in activities that contribute to their well-being. Due to the number of school districts within King County and many issues facing public education and support for families and students, those with ideas and who are willing to work on presentations and programs will be supported by the committee.

The public is invited to attend and participate in our meetings on the second Tuesday of the month at 4:00 PM.

During the past year we hosted the following conversations:
1. The Campaign for Seattle's Education and Early Learning Levy presented and answered questions at our October 2025 meeting.
2. Bellevue Schools Superintendent Kelly Aramaki led a discussion on proposals to reform Washington state's education funding in March 10.
3. LWVWA Education Advocacy Chair Karen Tvedt was our guest in April 2026 on the 2025-26 legislative session.

Thank you to Maris Olsen and Susan Waller for their voter outreach at the Bellevue Chamber's Believe event.

Have you heard this term in the news? 🤔📰 Cert
“Certiorari is generally associated with the writ that the Supreme Court of the United States issues to review a lower court's judgment. A case cannot, as a matter of right, be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. As such, a party seeking to appeal to the Supreme Court from a lower court decision must file a writ of certiorari.”

League members from throughout the Evergreen state 🌲 will gather in Lacey this weekend for “The Power of Us,” the League of Women Voters of Washington's biennial council.

Featuring workshops, caucus sessions and training, “The Power of Us” is best characterized as an Innovation Lab, said President Karen Crowley. “It’s a place where members and leaders come together to learn, share and shape the future of the League.” ✨️

Crowley said the League, now 106 years old, remains steadfast in its commitment to nonpartisanship as well as to its mission of empowering voters and defending democracy.

This Pride Month, we celebrate and honor LGBTQ+ advocates and organizers who have moved the United States closer to its democratic ideals. 🇺🇸

Pride is protest, power, and community. Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Duvall Days Parade - This SATURDAY, June 6
You can march in the Parade and hand out voting scan cards and raise League awareness. Live in or around Duvall (Redmond, Monroe, Sammamish, Fall City, North Bend)? Come down to Duvall Days this SATURDAY, JUNE 6 for the main street parade from 10:30 - 11:30!! Bring candy or any voting info you have to hand out along the parade route. Stay and enjoy the festivities!
LWV-SKC-Snoqualmie Valley Unit

Have you heard this term in the news? 🤔 📰 Purcell Principle
“In United States law, the Purcell principle is the doctrine that courts should not change election rules too close to an election, because of the risk of causing confusion. It is named after Purcell v. Gonzalez, a 2006 case from the U.S. Supreme Court's emergency docket, or shadow docket. It is frequently invoked by the Supreme Court and lower courts to allow elections to proceed under a state's preferred voting requirements, maps, and other rules.
The term "Purcell principle" was introduced in a 2016 law review article by Richard L. Hasen. It has also appeared in opinions by the justices themselves.”

Great news! The LWVWA’s “Welcoming Immigrants” position has been accepted by LWVUS as a recommended position going into LWVUS’ national convention. The proposed concurrence will be voted on June 25-28, 2026, at the LWVUS Convention in Columbus, Ohio, by in-person and virtual delegates. If adopted by LWVUS, all state and local Leagues across the country would be able to utilize the position to advocate for immigrants' rights and access to services.

The Soto Palmer v Hobbs lawsuit and Washington’s Legislative District 14 are in the news again, although Washington’s existing legislative maps remain for now.

Originally filed in Jan. of 2022, the Soto Palmer suit by five Latino citizens in the Yakima Valley area was decided in Aug. 2024, resulting in implementing new legislative maps. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit court affirmed the lower court’s decision a year later, in Aug. 2025. Appealed again, the case awaits the U.S. Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS’s) decision regarding whether it will hear the case. SCOTUS has until June 2, 2026 to make the decision.

After the Louisiana v Callais decision on April 29, 2026, intervenors in the Soto Palmer case saw an opportunity to overturn the 2024 decision and filed two motions: one to reverse the maps and one to expedite the reversal. The Washington Secretary of State office waded in to oppose any changes for the 2026 election saying candidates have already filed under the current maps, including sixty-seven as candidates for a position in a legislative district impacted by 2024 map change.

U.S District Judge Robert Lasnik denied both motions saying Jose Trevino and state Rep. Alex Ybarra didn’t have standing to file their motion. Lasnik reminded us that the redistricting plan and boundary lines belong to the people not the representatives. The current legislative maps remain for now.

The Soto Palmer case was decided based on the long-standing legal precedent of the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act, Section 2. Last month’s Callais decision essentially throws out sixty years of precedent and Congressional law and makes proving discrimination in redistricting maps extremely difficult. Any remedy maps will not be able to use race as a predominate factor.

SCOTUS could decide to use Washington’s maps as its first test case after the Callais decision. This could force Washington to redo its legislative maps one more time before the 2028 election and the next redistricting cycle in 2031. However, as Judge Lasnik’s order concludes, “Unless and until the Supreme Court grants review and disturbs that judgment, the Ninth Circuit’s…ruling is the law.”