One of the most important “political” events occurred last year: the 2020 Census. Hawaii has two U.S. Congressional seats, 25 state Senate seats and 51 state House seats. The Counties of Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii have nine Council seats each, and Kauai seven. Who represents you at each level – county, state and federal – might change with the new maps being drawn right now.
To better understand how redistricting works, the Hawaii State League of Women Voters invites you to watch this webinar, “Redistricting in Hawai`i: What You Should Know,” which was originally hosted on October 27th, 2021, via Zoom. (For an annotated draft, watch the webinar on YouTube.)
Sherry Bracken, Moderator, just completed 17 years as a Hawaii Island radio reporter for two local radio station companies and for Hawaii Public Radio. During the course of her career, she also moderated dozens of candidate and issue forums. She retired in December, 2020. Ms. Bracken is still a strong supporter of the League of Women Voters and our educational outreach.
Speaker Anne Feder Lee, PhD Political Science, is an expert on Hawaii’s Constitution, former Professor of Political Science at the UH-West Oahu, and a two-term LWV Hawaii President. She has been an active voice in developing League positions on Hawaii Constitutional Conventions.
Anne headed the State League’s Reapportionment Monitoring Committee in 1981 and encouraged Hawaii State League of Women Voters to file a lawsuit challenging the use of “registered voters” rather than population as the base for determining U.S. Congressional districts and state legislative districts. The three-judge federal panel struck down both federal and state plans holding that the Reapportionment Commission failed to properly calculate a permissible population base. They ruled that the plans violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The Reapportionment Commission prepared a second plan, which the district court approved for the 1984 elections. Here's a link from the League archives about all this excitement.
Speaker Dylan Nonaka is a member of the Hawaii Reapportionment Commission and was appointed by the House Minority Leader.
Resources for Maps & Mapping Software
- Legislative Redistricting Plans
- Hawaii Redistricting Online
To use the software, you will need to register.
For more information, contact David Rosenbrock, Office of Elections, at david.rosenbrock [at] hawaii.gov
Join LWV Hawaii to hear Anne Lee give us the history of Redistricting in Hawai`i.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
