Reapportionment has been compared to solving a jigsaw puzzle, but that’s not exactly right. In the process of revising the maps governing how representatives are elected, the pieces fit together imperfectly, even when assembled by a puzzle master.
As a result, redistricting often results in lawsuits. That is likely to happen in response to the plan proposed by the Hawaii Reapportionment Commission. Residents of Hawaii island are especially unhappy that the Big Island population base falls short of what’s required to be assigned an additional representative in the state Senate. The reason, they said, is that the map is based on a population tally that includes many of Oahu’s military population, an arrangement they contend is unfair.
We disagree. The commission came up with a credible solution to its knottiest challenge: whether or not to count out-of-state college students and military personnel who are not permanent residents of Hawaii. After initially including them, the commission later opted to remove 16,458 from the population base. Those removed are students known to spend most of their time out of state or, in the case of the military, known to be registered voters in other states.
As for the remainder of the state’s nearly 72,000 nonresident military, until there is better data available, it’s wrong simply to assume that they cast absentee ballots elsewhere and, thus, should be discounted. Military residents often are active members of the community whose interests should be part of the mix in legislative debate. If the military adds more heft to the Oahu population, then the reapportionment plan should reflect that, regardless of threats of legal challenges.
Reapportionment is unavoidably messy. Communities get split up a little differently each time. Some Big Islanders, for example, are upset that part of South Kona has been reassigned to the same district as Puna and Volcano instead of being with the rest of West Hawaii, but this anomaly should not be viewed as a deal-breaker.
In the effort to keep neighborhoods intact so that people with the same concerns vote together, some districts end up populated a bit more heavily than others, some elected officials end up living in the same district. The latter issue shouldn’t be a big problem — three districts in the plan proposed by the reapportionment commission have pitted incumbents against each other, which means that elsewhere there will be room for newcomers in the state Legislature, a development that’s always a boon for a vibrant electoral system.
It’s the former issue that should be the bigger worry. The commission needs to make the closest approach possible to the "one person, one vote" ideal: Each person elected to the Legislature should represent about the same number of voters, so that each person’s political influence is roughly equivalent.
On this score, the commission has done fairly well. And it has largely kept district configurations compact and sensible, with most district boundaries contained within island divisions. The only "canoe districts" are those that are unavoidable: Senate District 6 includes East Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe; District 7 encompasses Kauai and Niihau.
In the next 10 years, there are sure to be more population shifts that will compel a rearrangement of Senate representation, but in 2011, the numbers don’t pencil out. On the whole, this is a defensible plan, one that aims to give residents equitable voices in government, which is the primary aim of reapportionment.
