New Washington state law bans prison-based gerrymandering

Gov. Jay Inslee.
(Image credit: Karen Ducey / Getty Images)

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (D), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, signed a bill on Tuesday that could prove crucial in the nation's gerrymandering debate going forward.

The bill effectively ends what is known as "prison gerrymandering," in Washington, making the Evergreen State the fifth to do so. Prison gerrymandering occurs when a state accounts for inmates in state prisons in their prisons' districts rather than their home communities.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.