(1) "Covered jurisdiction" means:
(a) A political subdivision which, within the previous 25 years, has become subject to a court order, government enforcement action, court-approved consent decree, or a settlement in which the political subdivision conceded liability, based upon a violation of chapter
29A.92 RCW, the federal voting rights act, the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution involving discrimination against members of a protected class, or any voting-related violation of the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution or of the Washington Constitution involving discrimination against members of a protected class; or
(b) Any political subdivision that, during the previous 25 years, was found to have enacted or implemented a covered policy without obtaining preclearance for such covered policy while designated as a covered jurisdiction pursuant to this section.
(2)(a) "Covered policy" means:
(i) Any change to the method of election of members of a governing body, including the removal of seats, the addition of seats elected at large, or the conversion of one or more seats elected from a single-member district to one or more at-large seats or seats from a multimember district;
(ii) Any change, or series of changes within a 12-month period, to the boundaries of the covered jurisdiction that reduces by more than five percentage points the proportion of the jurisdiction's citizen voting age population that is composed of members of any protected class that is a basis for the political subdivision's designation as a covered jurisdiction;
(iii) Any change to the boundaries of election districts or wards in the covered jurisdiction;
(iv) Any change that restricts the ability of any person to provide interpreter services to voters in any language other than English or which limits or impairs the creation or distribution of voting materials in any language other than English;
(v) Any change to the covered jurisdiction's plan of government, including a change to or in the framing of a jurisdiction's charter;
(vi) The method of election or district plans if, following each decennial census, a covered jurisdiction maintains an at-large method of election or a covered jurisdiction that implements a district-based election system makes no revisions to its districting plans; or
(vii) A change that may have the effect of denying, abridging, or diluting the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.
(b) "Covered policy" is not limited to actions taken independently by the governing body of a political subdivision, but also includes any changes as a result of ballot initiatives approved by voters.
(3) "Government enforcement action" includes a denial of administrative or judicial preclearance by the state or federal government, a final judgment or adjudication, or a similar formal action including but not limited to orders or final determinations from administrative adjudications.
(4) "Political subdivision" has the same meaning as defined in RCW
29A.92.010.
(5) "Protected class" has the same meaning as defined in RCW
29A.92.010.
