Political redistricting
goes back to the
drawing board

Neighbor isles stand to gain from
changes omitting military votes

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By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com

Maui, and possibly Hawaii, could gain representation in the state House at Oahu's expense under a new redistricting map that now excludes nonresident military dependents from the base population.

The new reapportionment plan, which will be ready for review by the commission and the public in about two weeks, also places legislative districts into four basic island groups, eliminating the need for multi-island or "canoe" districts, except for those that naturally occur within basic island groups, such as Kauai and Niihau.

The 2001 Reapportionment Commission yesterday reversed an August decision and removed 53,261 nonresident military dependents from the population base used to equally divide the legislative districts. Opponents had argued since most of these dependents live on Oahu, it gave the island more representation than it should have.

Commission Chairman Wayne Minami, who this past summer had agreed with the four Democrats on the bi-partisan panel to include these military dependents, changed his vote after a review of the state Constitution as well as overwhelming opposition to their inclusion at public hearings last month.

"I did the right thing," Minami said.

The former state attorney general said his interpretation of reapportionment under the state Constitution, which requires apportionment of legislative districts based on the number of permanent residents, clearly states active military and their dependents can't be considered permanent residents just because they are stationed here.

That means the commission cannot assume nonresident military dependents could be permanent residents of the state. Rather, the burden is on them to prove they are, he said.

Minami said he believes the changes will result in Maui gaining another full state House seat from Oahu. Hawaii Republican Party Chairwoman Linda Lingle, who watched yesterday's proceedings, said she believes Maui and Hawaii each will gain a House seat from Oahu.

Lingle praised Minami for his leadership and for taking the new map out for another round of public hearings -- surprising openness by a state reapportionment panel.

"I think you're going to come up with a plan that is really in the public interest, and is fair," Lingle said.

Minami's swing vote was welcomed by the panel's four Republicans, who have lobbied since this summer to get the Democratic majority to agree to a map that truly reflected the state's population shift toward the neighbor islands and away from Oahu.

Commission Vice Chairwoman Jill Frierson said it was a "huge mistake" to include these dependents when the testimony presented at the hearings was so overwhelming against doing so. Not one nonresident military dependent testified at any of the 11 hearings to defend their inclusion in the population base, she said.

Democrat appointee David Rae, however, said removing these dependents takes away their fundamental right to be represented.