The onus is on us, through hard work, honesty and integrity, to reach for the stars. - Nelson Mandela Honesty has a beautiful and refreshing simplicity about it No ulterior motives No hidden meanings An absence of hypocrisy, duplicity, political games, and verbal superficiality As honesty and real integrity characterize our lives, there will be no need to manipulate others - Charles R. Swindoll

1. Let smoke and mirrors not fool you
Trust your instinct
Vandana Sharma
Redrawing Of Hawaii's Political Boundaries Could Stretch Into Early 2022
Advocates have also raised concerns over closed door meetings of the Reapportionment Commission
By Blaze Lovell, Honolulu Civil Beat, May 17, 2021
<https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/05/redrawing-of-hawaiis-political-boundaries-could-stretch-into-early-2022/>
Most of the commission's discussions regarding its new timeline and hiring staf took place
behind closed doors, not in the public session, on Monday. However, the commissioners
reconvened in public to announce their decisions.
Sandy Ma, executive director of Common Cause Hawaii, said the open-government
organization objects to the commission's use of closed sessions to discuss topics like the
impact of census data on the commission’s timeline. “This information is especially critical for
the public watching and attending these meetings,” Ma said.
Mark Mugiishi, the chairman of the commission and CEO of the Hawaii Medical Services
Association, said those items had to be taken up during a closed session because they involved
personnel and a discussion with the commission’s lawyers regarding the federal data.
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IS THE SPECTRE OF EVIL AND POTENTIAL FOR WRONGDOING JUSTIFIED
“If something is there, you can see it with your eyes open,
but if it isn't there, you can see it just as well with your eyes closed.
That's why imaginary things are often easier to see than real ones”
Norton Jester, Author, Phantom Tollbooth

2. GERRYMANDERING is the act of politicians manipulating the redrawing of legislative district lines in
order to help their friends and hurt their enemies. They may seek to help one party win extra seats (a
partisan gerrymander), make incumbents of both parties safer (an incumbent-protection gerrymander)
or target particular incumbents who have fallen out of favor.
Source: Gerrymandering FairVote, Accessed May 19, 2021 <https://www.fairvote.org/gerrymandering#gerrymandering_key_facts>
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Gerrymandering Threat Index
RepresentUs, April 5, 2021
<https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gerrymandering-threat-index-shows-35-states-in-danger-of-rigged-maps-for-next-decade-301261994.html>
Additionally Reference: The Redistricting Landscape, 2021–22
By Michael C. Li, Brennan, Esq., Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice Democracy Program
New York University School of Law, February 11, 2021
<https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/fles/2021-02/2021_2_State%20of%20Redistricting.pdf>
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Public Input and Redistricting
National Conference of State Legislatures, September 9, 2019
<https://www.ncsl.org/research/redistricting/public-input-and-redistricting.aspx#:~:text=Public%20Hearings%20%26%20Access%3A,least%2C
%20accessible%20to%20interested%20citizens.>
As the public has become increasingly attentive to the redistricting process, states have begun to
incorporate opportunities for public input into their redistricting laws. Although roles for citizen
engagement in redistricting are more prevalent and often more robust in states that have vested their
redistricting authority in independent commissions, such commissions are in no way crucial for making
the process more open to the public. So far in 2019, there have been 16 bills introduced in eight states
aimed at providing public input options in the redistricting process in some way. The level and form of
citizen involvement varies by state
HAWAII

3. PUBLIC MAP SUBMISSIONS: None
PUBLIC COMMENT AND TESTIMONY: None
PUBLIC HEARINGS AND ACCESS: Must hold at least one public hearing in each basic island
unit (HRS§25-2(a))
NOTICE: Within 100 days of the commission’s formation, must give each island unit public notice
of hearings on the redistricting plan proposed. Must give public notice of any hearing’s date and
location at least 20 days in advance. The chief election ofcer must give public notice of the fnal
plan’s ofcial fling within 14 days (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 25-2(a))
CITIZEN INITIATED REVIEW: Hawaii Supreme Court reviews the plan if a registered voter
petitions the court within 45 days of the fnal plan’s fling (Haw. Const. art. IV, § 10)
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HAWAII REVISED STATUTES CHAPTER 25
REAPPORTIONMENT
§25-1 Reapportionment commission
§25-2 Duties. (a) Legislative reapportionment [Extract]
Not more than one hundred days from the date on which all members are certifed, the commission
shall cause to be given in each basic island unit, public notice of a legislative reapportionment plan
prepared and proposed by the commission. At least one PUBLIC HEARING on the proposed
reapportionment plan shall be held in each basic island unit after initial PUBLIC NOTICE of the plan.
At least twenty days' notice shall be given of the PUBLIC HEARING. The notice shall include a
statement of the substance of the proposed reapportionment plan, and of the date, time, and place
where interested persons may be heard thereon. The notice shall be given at least once in the basic
island unit where the hearing will be held.
ALL INTERESTED PERSONS SHALL BE AFFORDED AN OPPORTUNITY TO SUBMIT DATA,
VIEWS, OR ARGUMENTS, ORALLY OR IN WRITING, FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE
COMMISSION. After the last of the public hearings, but in no event later than one hundred ffty days
from the date on which all members of the commission are certifed, the commission shall determine
whether or not the plan is in need of correction or modifcation, make the correction or modifcation, if
any, and fle with the chief election ofcer, a fnal legislative reapportionment plan. Within fourteen
days after the fling of the fnal reapportionment plan, the chief election ofcer shall cause PUBLIC
NOTICE to be given of the fnal legislative reapportionment plan which, upon public notice, shall
become efective as of the date of fling and govern the election of members of the next fve succeeding
legislatures. [Emphasis Supplied]
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CONSTITUION STATE OF HAWAII
Article IV Reapportionment

4. Section 10. Original jurisdiction is vested in the supreme court of the State to be exercised on the
petition of any registered voter whereby it may compel, by mandamus or otherwise, the appropriate
person or persons to perform their duty or to correct any error made in a reapportionment plan, or it
may take such other action to efectuate the purposes of this section as it may deem appropriate. Any
such petition shall be fled within forty-fve days of the date specifed for any duty or within forty-fve
days after the fling of a reapportionment plan. [Add Const Con 1978 and election Nov 7, 1978]
WHO DRAWS THE LINES?
Republicans Democrats Split government or nonpartisan commission No redistricting (single district)
Source: Once-A-Decade Census Numbers to Redraw U.S. Political Landscape
By Gregory Korte and Allison McCartney, Bloomberg, April 25, 2021
<https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-congress-reapportionment/>
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❖❖❖ PONO ❖❖❖
Righteousness and Balance