Electoral Precincts

A statistical follow-up to the Statehood Plebiscite

Click on the thumbnails to see larger image of each precinct.

1) Column 1 are the image details of the 1959 Electoral Precinct Maps. Click to enlarge, This will give you an accurate reading to see how each district voted in hte 1959 Statehood Plebiscite.

2) Data tallied in column 2 are the” yes“, “no” and total votes from each precinct on Proposition One of Hawaii’s Statehood Plebiscite (Should Hawaii become a state or remain a territory), as recorded by the Office of Elections in the June 27, 1959, “Results of Votes Cast.” Precinct boundaries are in accordance with the Governor’s Proclamation dated June 26, 1957.

3) Between July 28, 1959 and the 1960 Census, there is a population difference of 10,685 (1.69%) as the population jumped from 622,087 to 632,772. The population listed for each district and precinct are in column 3 and is from the 1960 Hawaii Census. The 1959 population figure is from the State of Hawaii Data Book. Except for Honolulu County, the Census County Division on each map corresponds to the Election Precinct Boundaries. The district details of the population data are based on the 1960 Census.

4) In 1959, the minimum voting age in Hawaii was 20 years and the population of those 20 and older was 360,193. The U.S. Statistical Abstract lists 348,000 as being eligible to vote in Hawaii. I’ve included an additional 11,863 to factor in those who were 20 years old in 1959 and excluded from the Abstract. In Column 4 of this study, I discount an average of 56.9% of the total population as being ineligible to vote. It should be noted that the Armed Forces are counted as residents in both the State of Hawaii Data Book and the Census. According to the Data Book, there were 183,118 registered voters and voter turnout was 171,383. At 57.9% of the population, I estimate a total of 360,193 as being eligible to vote. I should also note that due to the opposing directions that birthdates and the 1.69% population growth pull this data, the “+”or “-” variable should remain neglible.

5) According to the 1960 Census, 202,230 (32%) residents are identified as white or Anglo-American, while 425,599 (67%) residents are listed as non-white and 4.943(.8%) are identified as African-American. There is no accounting for indigenous native Hawaiians or Kanaka Maoli. In column 5, I have inserted the Anglo-American/non-white index to highlight discrepencies in the voting pattern. Unfortunately, this is the only index that is broken up by precincts. Other indexes such as place-of–birth, education, income, or veteran status only assigns data to the general counties of Hawaii, Maui, Oahu and Kauai.

6) Interpreting two different sets of data on Armed Forces residency from the State of Hawaii Data Book (105,898 & 112,425), I’m indexing an average of 109,162 military personnel and their dependents in Hawaii in 1959, the military contributing to 17.55% of the population. Out of that 56,303 are dependents who are also counted as residents.

*In 1959, the voting age was 20+ and looking at census statistics for age, that significantly decreases the percentage from 60% (381,859) to 57% (360,193)–as demonstrated in the previous analysis– a difference of 21,166 eligible voters.

Data compiled and assembled by Arnie Saiki with the help of a grant from the Hawaii People’s Fund.

Sources: 1960 Hawaii Census,
“State of Hawaii Data Book,”
Official Tabulation “Results of Votes Cast”, Office of Elections
1961 U.S. Statistical Abstract, “Citizens and population of voting age,” pg 360, chart no. 484.
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Government Documents/Maps