Big Island Video News reports:
After a day of oral arguments, the Hawaii Supreme Court has found the 2011 Final Reapportionment Plan to be constitutionally invalid.
The Order Granting Petition for Writ of Mandamus and Judicial Review states:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for a writ of mandamus and judicial review is granted. The 2011 Final Reapportionment Plan for the state legislature is hereby invalidated. The 2011 State of Hawaii Reapportionment Commission shall prepare and file a new reapportionment plan that: (1) allocates the members of the state legislature among the basic island units by using a permanent resident population base, and then (2) apportions the members among the districts therein as provided by article IV, section 6. The Chief Election Officer shall rescind the publication of the 2011 Final Reapportionment Plan for the state legislature. An opinion will follow.
This is significant because the nonresident population that includes students and a large military population would skew the electoral districts for the state legislature if counted in the reapportionment formula. A likely result of this decision may be that Hawaii County will pick up an additional senate seat, while Oʻahu would lose a seat.
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