BY MALIA ZIMMERMAN – The state Reapportionment Commission Chair, Retired Judge Victoria Marks, and her project manager, delivered the commission’s final report and 2011 reapportionment plan prepared by the 2011 Reapportionment Commission to Hawaii lawmakers today.
In an email to lawmakers, David Rosenbrock, project manager, warned the plan may change because two parties are challenging the 2011 reapportionment plan in the Hawaii Supreme Court.
“The commission may issue an amendment to the Final Report and Reapportionment Plan based on the outcome of the legal challenges to the plan,” Rosenbrock said.
Oral arguments set for January 4, 2012 before the Hawaii Supreme Court.
The first lawsuit filed in October by Big Island Democrats, Sen. Malama Solomon, Hawaii County Democratic Party Chairman Steve Pavao and party committee members Louis Hao and Patti Cook, orders the commission to remove 70,000 non resident military members and their dependents removed from Hawaii’s population count so they can gain a fourth Senate seat.
The plaintiffs note the Big Island had a population that grew 24.5 percent in 10 years, more than the state’s other four counties, but when including Hawaii’s non resident military in the total population count, they said they were prevented them from being fairly represented in the Senate. (The state population grew to nearly 1.4 million residents, an increase of 12 percent, according to Ballotpedia.org)
A second lawsuit was filed by Kona attorney Michael Matsukawa.
However, Big Island lawmakers and island Democratic party members promised swift action against the commission if they didn’t remove all 70,000 non resident military and their families from the plan. Maui Republicans also took issue with what was seen as a plan that benefitted Oahu politicians.
The issue is important because in 1992, the voters of Hawaii approved a state constitutional amendment excluding certain military personnel when counting for reapportionment purposes only. The specific issue is the definition of “permanent residence.”
Commissioners met behind closed doors before taking another vote in September, which ended in a 5-3 decision to compromise and remove a portion of the non resident military, or 15,000 people.
Complicating legal matters, Democrat Governor Neil Abercrombie, who was named as a defendant in the lawsuit with the commissioners, is siding with Big Island Democrats.
“The governor respectfully requests that this court compel the 2011 Reapportionment Commission to do everything necessary, including recreating ‘permanent resident’ population bases for the four basic island units, to correct the 2011 Reapportionment Plan it filed with the Chief Elections Officer, and assure that it complies with article IV, section 4 of the State Constitution,” said Deputy Attorney General Charleen Aina in a state brief.
State Reapportionment Advisory Commission Chair for Oahu, Mike Palcic, has a different view. He said he is disappointed at how the commission has handled the redistricting issue. His advisory commission had voted unanimously in favor of including all non resident military in the count. Other observers felt it is disrespectful not to include the military and their families as is the federal government’s practice.
Meanwhile, Hawaii’s primary elections have been moved up from the third week in September to an August 11 primary because of a challenge by the federal government that said the state did not allow enough time for resident military overseas to have their votes counted in time for the election.
A separate city reapportionment commission redrew the lines for the City & County of Honolulu’s 9 council districts and included all of Oahu’s population including non residential military without incident, according to a spokesperson for the city clerk’s office.
To see the proposal, log on to the commission’s web site at https://hawaii.gov/elections/reapportionment and see more at https://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Redistricting_in_Hawaii