Hawaii

Hawaii’s congressional and state legislative lines are drawn by a nine-member politician commission, in place since 1968.  Each of the four legislative leaders (majority and minority leader in each legislative house) chooses two commissioners, and those eight normally choose a ninth; if they cannot, the Supreme Court appoints a tiebreaking member. [Haw. Const. art. IV, § 2]  Commission members for the 2020 cycle are listed here.

The Hawaii Supreme Court has original jurisdiction to review legal challenges filed in state court. [Haw. Const. art. IV, § 10]

The state constitution requires that the commission enact plans no later than 150 days from the date that the commission is formed. (State statutes require that the commission produce draft plans for public comment no later than 100 days from the date that the commission is formed.)  For the 2020 cycle, the Hawaii Supreme Court extended the deadline for the commission to produce draft plans and enact final plans, in light of the Census Bureau’s delay in releasing data.  The deadline for candidates to file for congressional and state legislative primary elections was June 7, 2022. [Haw. Const. art. IV, § 2; Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-6(a), 25-2]

Hawaii law designates “reapportionment years,” and might therefore be construed to prohibit redrawing lines mid-decade. [Haw. Const. art. IV, § 1]

State statutes provide for public hearings on draft redistricting plans, with at least one public hearing in each of the state’s basic island units before a plan is finalized. [Haw. Rev. Stat. § 25-2]  To facilitate input, state statutes also provide specific notice requirements for publishing draft and final maps. [Haw. Rev. Stat. §1-28.5(e)]

Meeting minutes and recordings are available for the 2020 cycle here.  Meeting minutes, draft and final plans, and other details are also available for the 2010 cycle and 2000 cycle.

Like all states, Hawaii must comply with constitutional equal population requirements.  State statutes also require congressional districts to be as nearly equally populated as practicable.  For its state legislative lines, Hawaii apportions based on permanent residents (excluding non-residents like non-resident students and military); first, districts are allocated to the four basic island units (centered on Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, and Kauai), and then those district lines are divvied up within each unit to be as equal in permanent resident population as practicable. [Haw. Rev. Stat. § 25-2(b); Haw. Const. art. IV, §§ 4, 6; Solomon v. Abercrombie, 270 P.3d 1013, 1022-24 (Haw. 2012)]

Hawaii must also, like all states, abide by the Voting Rights Act and constitutional rules on race.

Hawaii has provided additional statutory constraints on congressional plans, which mirror state constitutional constraints on legislative plans.  For both types of lines, districts must be contiguous; must be compact, if practicable; and must follow permanent and easily recognized features where possible, and coincide with census tracts where practicable.  Where practicable, districts must also avoid submerging one area in another with substantially different predominant socioeconomic interests. [Haw. Const. art. IV, § 6; Haw. Rev. Stat. § 25-2(b)]  State legislative districts may be multimember districts, but no more than four members may be elected from any single district.  Furthermore, where practicable, state House districts must be nested within state Senate districts. [Haw. Const. art. IV, § 6]

No district may be drawn so as to unduly favor a person or political faction. [Haw. Const. art. IV, § 6; Haw. Rev. Stat. § 25-2(b)]

The Hawaii Supreme Court extended the deadline to adopt congressional and legislative maps by more than five months – from Sept. 10, 2021, to Feb. 27, 2022 – because of the Census Bureau’s delay in transmitting Census data. [Hawai‘i v. Haw. 2021 Reapportionment Comm’n, No. SCPW-22-0000078 (Haw. S. Ct. July 7, 2021)]

Hawaii’s commission proposed draft congressional maps on Oct. 14, 2021 and proposed draft state legislative maps on Oct. 28, 2021.  On Jan. 6, 2022, the commission adopted an updated population base for the state legislative maps to better account for military, non-permanent residents, in conformance with the state constitution.

The commission enacted final congressional and state legislative district plans on Jan. 28, 2022.  It appears that the congressional map was not challenged in court; challenges to the state legislative maps were rejected. [Hicks v. 2021 Haw. Reapportionment Comm’n, 511 P.3d 216 (Haw. 2022)]

Hawaii’s commission released final congressional and state legislative district plans on Sept. 26, 2011.

On Jan. 4, 2012, the Hawaii Supreme Court rejected the state legislative plans, for failure to properly exclude nonresident population under the state constitution.  On Mar. 8, 2012, the commission approved new state legislative plans.  Further challenges to the state legislative plans were rejected.  [Kostick v. Nago, 960 F. Supp. 2d 1074 (D. Haw. 2013), aff’d 134 S. Ct. 1001 (2014); Solomon v. Abercrombie, 270 P.3d 1013 (Haw. 2012)]

Hawaii’s commission enacted congressional and state legislative district plans on Nov. 30, 2001.  It appears that neither plan was challenged in court.