REPORT TITLE:
OHA Trustee Election Recall


DESCRIPTION:
Proposes an amendment to Article XII, Section 5, of the Hawaii
Constitution to allow for the recall of trustees of the Office of
Hawaiian Affairs.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2477
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS. 


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

 1      SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to propose an
 
 2 amendment to Article XII, section 5, of the Constitution of the
 
 3 State of Hawaii to allow for the recall of trustees of the Office
 
 4 of Hawaiian Affairs.
 
 5      SECTION 2.  Article XII, section 5, of the Constitution of
 
 6 the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
 
 7      "Section 5.  There is hereby established an Office of
 
 8 Hawaiian Affairs.  The Office of Hawaiian Affairs shall hold
 
 9 title to all the real and personal property now or hereafter set
 
10 aside or conveyed to it which shall be held in trust for native
 
11 Hawaiians and Hawaiians.  There shall be a board of trustees for
 
12 the Office of Hawaiian Affairs elected and subject to recall by
 
13 qualified voters who are Hawaiians, as provided by law.  The
 
14 board members shall be Hawaiians.  There shall be not less than
 
15 nine members of the board of trustees; provided that each of the
 
16 following Islands have one representative:  Oahu, Kauai, Maui,
 
17 Molokai and Hawaii.  The board shall select a chairperson from
 
18 its members."
 
19      SECTION 3.  The question to be printed on the ballot shall
 
20 be as follows:
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2477
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      "Shall the trustees of the office of Hawaiian affairs be
 
 2      subject to recall?"
 
 3      SECTION 4.  Chapter 13D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 4 by adding two new sections to be appropriately numbered and to
 
 5 read as follows:
 
 6      "§13D-    Recall of a trustee of the office of Hawaiian
 
 7 affairs.  A trustee of the office of Hawaiian affairs may be
 
 8 removed by recall which shall be initiated upon by a petition
 
 9 signed by qualified voters equal in number to at least ten per
 
10 cent of the total qualified voters registered in the election for
 
11 trustees of the office of Hawaiian affairs in the last special
 
12 election held for that office.
 
13      §13D-    Recall petition; recall election.  The recall
 
14 petition shall require each signing qualified voter's signature,
 
15 address, social security number, and the date of signing.
 
16 Signatures on a recall petition may be on separate sheets but
 
17 each sheet shall have appended to it the affidavit of a person,
 
18 not necessarily a signer of the petition, that to the best of the
 
19 affiant's knowledge and belief the persons whose signatures
 
20 appear on the sheet are voters qualified to vote in the election
 
21 of trustees for the office of Hawaiian affairs, that they signed
 
22 with full knowledge of the contents of the petition, and that
 
23 their residences are correctly given.
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2477
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      A recall petition shall be filed with the chief election
 
 2 officer.  The chief election officer shall examine it to
 
 3 determine if it contains a sufficient number of genuine
 
 4 signatures of qualified voters.  The chief election officer may
 
 5 question the genuineness of any signature or signatures appearing
 
 6 on the recall petition and if the chief election officer finds
 
 7 that any signature or signatures are not genuine, the chief
 
 8 election officer shall disregard them in determining whether the
 
 9 petition contains a sufficient number of signatures.  The chief
 
10 election officer shall also disregard any signature dated more
 
11 than sixty days before the petition was tendered for filing.  The
 
12 chief election officer shall eliminate any sheet of the petition
 
13 which is not accompanied by the required affidavit.  The
 
14 invalidity of any sheet of the petition shall not affect the
 
15 validity of the petition if a sufficient number of signatures
 
16 remain after eliminating an invalid sheet.  The chief election
 
17 officer shall complete the examination of the petition within
 
18 twenty working days after the submission of the petition and
 
19 shall thereupon file the petition if valid or reject it if
 
20 invalid.
 
21      As soon as the chief election officer has accepted a recall
 
22 petition for filing, the chief election officer shall notify the
 
23 trustee that the petition has been filed.  Upon receipt of the
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2477
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 notice, the trustee may resign from office and thereupon the
 
 2 recall proceedings shall terminate.
 
 3      If the trustee does not resign from office within ten days
 
 4 after notice of the filing of the petition was given to the
 
 5 trustee, the chief election officer shall arrange a recall
 
 6 election.  If a general or special election is to be held not
 
 7 less than thirty days nor more than ninety days after the ten
 
 8 days have expired, the recall question shall be placed before the
 
 9 qualified voters at the election.  Otherwise a special recall
 
10 election shall be fixed for a date not earlier than thirty days
 
11 nor later than ninety days after ten days have expired.  The
 
12 trustee may resign at any time prior to the recall election and
 
13 thereupon the election shall not be held.
 
14      The following question shall be presented to each qualified
 
15 voter in a recall:  "Shall (name of trustee) be recalled and
 
16 removed from the office of Hawaiian affairs?"
 
17      If a majority of the qualified voters who vote on the
 
18 question at a recall election vote "yes," the trustee shall be
 
19 deemed recalled and removed from office.  Otherwise, the trustee
 
20 shall remain in office.  Blank ballots shall be counted as a "no"
 
21 vote.
 
22      No trustee, who has been removed from the office of Hawaiian
 
23 affairs or who has resigned after a recall petition directed to
 
24 the trustee has been filed, shall be eligible for election or
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2477
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 appointment to the office of Hawaiian affairs within two years
 
 2 after the trustee's removal or resignation.
 
 3      No recall petition shall be filed against a trustee within
 
 4 the first or the last year of the trustee's term or within six
 
 5 months after an unsuccessful recall election against the
 
 6 trustee."
 
 7      SECTION 5.  New constitutional and statutory material is
 
 8 underscored.
 
 9      SECTION 6.  The constitutional amendment contained in
 
10 section 2 shall take effect upon compliance with Article XVII,
 
11 Section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii; and the
 
12 remainder of this Act, upon its approval, shall take effect upon
 
13 ratification of the constitutional amendment proposed by section
 
14 2 of this Act.
 
15 
 
16                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________