Candidates for Honolulu City Council can pull and file papers today as planned, despite the lawsuit hanging over the reapportionment plan.

“We didn’t hear anything else, so it’s business as usual for filing,” Assistant Elections Administrator Chad Kadota told Inside Honolulu a few minutes ago.

“We’ll be taking applications and issuing nomination paper as usual for the county races, all of them.”

Feb. 1 is the first day that candidates can file. Mayoral and prosecutorial hopefuls were never in doubt, as those are county-wide races that aren’t dependent on reapportionment.

But the Council seats require that candidates actually live in the district they’re running to represent. If the Hawaii Supreme Court decides to take the case, it would put the adopted plan in doubt. Rule 21 of the Hawaii Rules of Appellate Procedure does not lay out a time limit for the court to make a decision.

Kadota said no candidates had pulled or filed papers in the first 30 minutes after the office opened at 7:45 a.m. today.