REPORT TITLE:
Political Parties


DESCRIPTION:
Requires political parties to annually submit a list of
registered voters who are members of the party; to demonstrate
that it has run a presidential candidate as well as candidates
for Hawaii office; and to submit a petition containing signatures
of at least 1/10 of 1 per cent of the total registered voters.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           197
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT
RELATING TO POLITICAL PARTIES.


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that political parties can
 
 2 play a valuable public service in providing a platform of ideas
 
 3 around which individuals can organize.  The identification of
 
 4 candidates by political party affiliation on election ballots
 
 5 gives important information to the voter.  Participation in the
 
 6 electoral process is also enhanced by having various political
 
 7 parties offering their differing views to the public.  It is
 
 8 important to allow this process to continue to enrich the
 
 9 political process by eliminating arbitrary barriers to the
 
10 operation of political parties.
 
11      The purpose of this Act is to amend current qualification
 
12 processes to make it easier for political parties to operate in
 
13 Hawaii.
 
14      SECTION 2.  Section 11-61, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
15 amended to read as follows:
 
16      "§11-61  "Political party" defined.  (a)  The term
 
17 "political party" means any party which has qualified as a
 
18 political party under sections 11-62 and 11-64 and has not been
 
19 disqualified by this section.  A political party shall be an
 
20 association of voters united for the purpose of promoting a
 

 
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 1 common political end or carrying out a particular line of
 
 2 political policy and which maintains a general organization
 
 3 throughout the State, including a regularly constituted central
 
 4 committee and county committees in each county other than
 
 5 Kalawao.
 
 6      (b)  Any party which does not meet the [following]
 
 7 requirements under subsections (c) and (d) or the requirements
 
 8 set forth in sections 11-62 to 11-64, shall be subject to
 
 9 disqualification[:
 
10      (1)  A party must have had candidates running for election
 
11           at the last general election for any of the offices
 
12           listed in paragraph (2) whose terms had expired.  This
 
13           does not include those offices which were vacant
 
14           because the incumbent had died or resigned before the
 
15           end of the incumbent's term; and
 
16      (2)  The party received at least ten per cent of all votes
 
17           cast:
 
18           (A)  For any of the offices voted upon by all the
 
19                voters in the State;
 
20           (B)  In at least fifty per cent of the congressional
 
21                districts;
 
22           (C)  In at least the six senatorial districts with the
 
23                lowest votes cast for the office of state senator;
 

 
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 1                or
 
 2           (D)  In at least fifty per cent of the representative
 
 3                districts for the office of state representative].
 
 4      (c)  All political parties shall submit annually a list of
 
 5 fifty or more persons duly registered to vote in the State who
 
 6 are members of that party.  The list shall include names,
 
 7 addresses, signatures, and either the birth date or social
 
 8 security number for each individual.
 
 9      The list of party members need not include all members of
 
10 the party.  Fifty valid signatures shall be sufficient for
 
11 purposes of this section.
 
12      The signers shall attest to language appearing above their
 
13 signatures stating that they are a member of the party and agree
 
14 to follow its rules.
 
15      The list shall be submitted to the chief election officer
 
16 between January 1 and April 30 annually.
 
17      (d)  In addition to the requirements of subsection (c), in
 
18 order to qualify for the primary and general election as a
 
19 political party, a party must demonstrate one of the following:
 
20      (1)  The party is an affiliate of a national party that has
 
21           run a presidential candidate qualified in at least ten
 
22           states in either of the last two preceding presidential
 
23           elections;
 

 
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 1      (2)  The party has run qualified candidates for office in
 
 2           Hawaii in at least three of the last six general
 
 3           elections; or
 
 4      (3)  The party has complied with the petition requirements
 
 5           of section 11-62."
 
 6      SECTION 3.  Section 11-62, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 7 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
 8      "(a)  Any group of persons hereafter desiring to qualify as
 
 9 a political party for election ballot purposes in the State shall
 
10 file with the chief election officer a petition as provided in
 
11 [[]this[]] section.  The petition for qualification as a
 
12 political party shall:
 
13      (1)  Be filed not later than 4:30 p.m. on the one hundred
 
14           seventieth day prior to the next primary;
 
15      (2)  Declare as concisely as may be the intention of signers
 
16           thereof to qualify as a statewide political party in
 
17           the State and state the name of the new party;
 
18      (3)  Contain the [name, signature, residence address, date
 
19           of birth, and other information as determined by the
 
20           chief election officer] signatures of currently
 
21           registered voters comprising not less than one tenth of
 
22           one per cent of the total registered voters of the
 
23           State as of the last preceding general election;
 

 
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 1      (4)  Be accompanied by the names and addresses of the
 
 2           officers of the central committee and of the respective
 
 3           county committees of the political party and by the
 
 4           party rules; and
 
 5      (5)  Be upon the form prescribed and provided by the chief
 
 6           election officer."
 
 7      SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 8 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 9      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
10 
 
11                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________