A Manoa Republican yesterday challenged whether the Democratic Party of Hawai'i properly filled a vacancy created by state House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell's decision to run for Honolulu City Council.

The party on Saturday chose Isaac Choy, a Manoa accountant, to replace Caldwell. The state Office of Elections had informed the party on Friday that Chrystn Eads, an aide to Mayor Mufi Hannemann who had tried to replace Caldwell, did not make Tuesday's filing deadline.

Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa), has said the elections office was notified verbally of his withdrawal on Tuesday but that his official withdrawal letter was not received by the office until Wednesday. Under state law, the party had three days to fill the vacancy, and the elections office gave the party until Saturday afternoon.

Francisco Figueiredo, a Manoa Republican, asked the elections office to investigate whether the correct time frame to fill the vacancy should have ended on Friday, three days after Caldwell's verbal withdrawal.

Willes Lee, the state GOP chairman, said it would be "further manipulation of the system" to allow Choy on the ballot.

A Caldwell supporter has asked the city clerk's office to look into whether Caldwell filed his paperwork to run for City Council by the deadline. A preliminary determination is expected this week.