Posted at 6:11 p.m., Thursday, October 25, 2001
Deadline missed to submit redistricting plan
By Bruce Dunford
Associated Press
The Reapportionment Commission has missed tomorrow's state constitutional deadline to submit its redistricting plan for state legislative seats and congressional districts to the state's chief elections officer.
"We're working hard to get our plan done as soon as possible," said Wayne Minami, chairman of the nine-member bipartisan commission.
Chief Elections Officer Dwayne Yoshina has expressed concern that he may face a logistical nightmare in preparing election materials for candidates by Feb. 1, the first day candidates can take out nomination papers for the 2002 elections.
"How is someone going to run if he doesn't know where the districts are?" Yoshina said.
At a meeting today, the commission released preliminary neighbor island maps on a revised legislative redistricting plan. Revised preliminary O'ahu maps will be released Tuesday.
The major new development on the O'ahu map is extending Republican Sen. Fred Hemmings' Kailua-Waimanalo District around Makapuu Point to encompass fellow Republican Sen. Sam Slom's home in Slom's Hawaii Kai-Aina Haina District.
New Neighbor Island and O'ahu maps are based on last week's decisions to eliminate canoe districts and exclude nonresident military dependents from the population base.
Those decisions sent the commission's staff back to its electronic drawing boards to adjust House and Senate districts based on the smaller population base, primarily affecting O'ahu, and to base apportionment between the four counties on the total 76 legislative seats instead of on 25 Senate seats and 51 House seats.
Allowing the required 21 days for prior public review, the commission today approved a new round of public hearings statewide on the most recent preliminary maps. The schedule calls for hearings on Kaua'i on Nov. 19, Maui on Nov. 20, two on the Big Island on Nov. 26 and two on O'ahu Nov. 27.
The commission is scheduled to adopt the final plan Nov. 30 and file it with Yoshina on Dec. 14, seven weeks late.
On Maui, the new preliminary map combines Lanai and Moloka'i with the Hana District, instead of the Kaanapali-Lahaina area in the current House district now held by Rep. Ron Davis, a Republican.
"One of the issues raised, is that if we are going to be canoed, canoe us with a like (rural) district," Minami said in reference to public hearings held on Maui on the previous map.
Meanwhile, with the Big Island picking up an additional House seat, the North and South Kona House district now held by Rep. Paul Whalen, is tightened around the Kailua-Kona area where much of his GOP support lives.
Minami stressed that the preliminary maps are still subject to more changes, based on the new round of public hearings.
At today's meeting, Minami defended the commission's 7-2 decision last week to eliminate canoe districts by basing apportionment on 76 legislative seats, each representing an average population of 14,794 residents.
Under the changes, the Big Island gains a House seat, Kaua'i no longer shares its third House seat with Maui but gives up its second Senate seat now shared with Maui, O'ahu loses a House seat and Maui no longer shares its third Senate seat with Kaua'i.
Although the plan allows a more than 10 percent deviation in the populations of the individual House and Senate districts, it follows the state Constitution's requirement that apportionment be done within the basic island units, meaning the counties, Minami said.
"Hopefully, the court will accept that as a rational justification because it's not something that the commission made up. It's right in our constitution adopted by our people," Minami said. "It is a risk, but I think it's worth pursuing."
