The fate of Hawaii’s August primary election could be decided in just a matter of days. Friday morning, a three-judge panel listened to arguments in a case involving the state’s redrawn voting districts.
Friday at Federal Court, lawyers for State Representative Mark Takai and five other voters, argued that the redistricting plan is unconstitutional. One of the main issues, is whether to include military personnel and their dependents. The current plan does not.
"It’s just a backdoor way of saying that military folks and their families aren’t true members of our community," said Robert Thomas, plaintiff’s attorney.
But the State Attorney General’s office says, there is a way they can be counted.
"I mean if they do feel that they are a permanent resident of Hawaii, there is a form they can fill out and file," said State Deputy Attorney General Brian Aburano.
Including military members and their families, could eliminate a senate seat the Big Island gained through redistricting and return a seat to Oahu. Last month, the plaintiffs filed a motion, asking for a preliminary injunction. But the state believes if the judges grant this and ask the reapportionment commission to create a new plan for this year’s election:
"Well I think the chaos is causes is that there’s no doubt that the primary election for state offices will be much delayed and as I said in the courtroom, by my calculations, it would be into October before you have the state elections," Aburano said.
But both sides remain hopeful.
"We couldn’t have asked for anything more, very engaged court, they seemed to understand the issue, they really appeared to me, that they dug into the record," Thomas said.
The Reapportionment Commission is also waiting on the judges’ decision, which the state believes might come next week.
"If they send it back to the commission, we’ll do whatever we’re asked to do," said Victoria Marks, chair of the Reapportionment Commission.
The three-judge panel could also decide to change the redistricting plan for the next election year, which would prevent election delays this year.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
