Another Whitman College report; another finding that local election systems violate the federal Voting Rights Act by keeping Latinos out of office.

Along with research on Latino voter mobilization and the effect of bilingual media, this year's edition of Whitman's "State of the State for Washington Latinos" includes a report from student Nick Dollar making a case that Wapato and Toppenish school board elections violate federal law. A similar finding in the 2006 version of the report led to a U.S. Justice Department investigation that ultimately spurred the city of Sunnyside to change from at-large to
district-by-district elections.

"The structure of elections in these two districts systematically reduces the influence of the Latino vote and hinders Latino candidates in competitive elections," Dollar wrote in his report. "Such a situation demands change on the basis of democratic principles and for the sake of the Latino community and its clear interest in the formation of school policy. Moreover, this change may even be enforceable under federal law."

The nine student authors of the 376-page report, along with Whitman professors Paul Apostolidis and Gabriel Mireles, presented their findings Wednesday night at Toppenish Middle School. Though only about 35 people attended the event, the crowd was dotted with local political figures. Toppenish Councilman Ed Pacheco, Granger Mayor Ramona Fonseca and Wapato Mayor Jesse Farias were there, as were 4th Congressionial District candidate George Fearing, D-Pasco, and Yakima County Democratic Party Chairman Paul George. Toppenish School District Assistant Superintendent John Cerna, Yakima County Auditor's Office bilingual coordinator Lupe Camacho and Sunnyside City Clerk Deborah Estrada also attended.

Getting that kind of notice for the research will help local communities correct inequities in elected representation, said Maria
Rodriguez-Salazar, a moderator of Wednesday's presentation and Northwest vice president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC.

"It's really important that the people you included in your research have an opportunity to hear your findings," she said. "This is creating dialog, and that's what we want to do."

Three of the nine Whitman students researched issues in the Yakima Valley. In addition to Dollar, Emma Fulkerson wrote about the successful mobilization efforts by Fonseca and Pacheco in last year's council elections. And Melissa Navarro studied the effect of Spanish-language newspapers on political mobilization in Yakima.

"Communication is the first step toward political mobilization," she told the audience Wednesday.

Dollar's report, though, is the one that could have the most immediate policy ramifications. The study, which includes election analysis showing racially polarized voting in the Wapato and Toppenish school districts, also found Latino underrepresentation on the Granger School Board. But in that jurisdiction he did not find evidence of racially polarized voting -- a key test for violations of Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Voting systems that produce discrimminatory results against protected groups including Latinos are illegal regardless of whether there is intentional discrimmination. And Dollar's report repeatedly states he found no evidence of intentional or overt racism.

The Toppenish and Wapato districts both elect school board members specific to areas in which they live, but the elections allow the entire district to vote on all of those positions. That system is "often cited as the form of election least likely to produce minority representation," Dollar wrote. He suggested several alternatives including straight ward-by-ward elections, at-large elections with all candidates in the same race but voters limited to a number of votes less than the number of elected positions, and at-large cumulative voting that would give voters an allotment of votes that could be used to vote for a single candidate more than once.

"It's important to note that those changes don't have to happen through litigation," Dollar said in an interview Wednesday afternoon.

Instead, the jurisdictions can use his research and recommendations to avoid a legal challenge to their elections system. That's Rodriguez-Salazar's hope as well, although she said LULAC will press for changes if they are not otherwise forthcoming.

"We've already been contacted by some individuals asking about that," she said. "You always want litigation to be the last option. We're hoping with this information we can bring up (voluntary changes) with some of those communities."

While Wapato schools Superintendent Becky Imler did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday, Toppenish Superintendent Steve Myers said he will act on the report's findings if they are valid. He had not read it as of Wednesday afternoon.

"We are in a continual growth process as an organization," he said. "So if the report is validated or somebody at the federal or state level takes some kind of action, I can assure you that we would be in full cooperation."

To read the full report, go to www.walatinos.org

* Pat Muir can be reached at 577-7693, or at pmuir@yakimaherald.com.