STAND. COM. REP. NO.1544
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2001
RE: H.B. No. 168
H.D. 1
S.D. 2
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2001
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 168, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to establish a temporary task force in the office of the Lieutenant Governor to evaluate the adequacy of the election law with respect to vote tabulation and contest procedures, and the feasibility of implementing an automatic recount and improved contest procedure.
In addition, this measure:
(1) Specifies the composition and organization of the Elections Review Task Force and the appointment and compensation of its members;
(2) Allows the Task Force to retain private legal counsel and staff as necessary to provide it with technical assistance and support;
(3) Appropriates $100,000 to the Office of Elections for the Task Force to review, evaluate, and recommend changes to Hawaii's election laws; and
(4) Requires the Task Force to submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislature prior to the regular session of 2002.
Your Committee finds that the integrity and certainty of the State's electoral process is ultimately dependent on the validity and reliability of its vote tabulation procedures.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting the provision relating to automatic recount procedures;
(2) Changing the sum appropriated for the Elections Review Task Force to $2; and
(3) Attaching to it the contents of S.B. No 106, S.D. 1, which:
(A) Limits vote recounts to only those election contests in which the difference between winner and next highest vote-getter is less than one percentage point of the total number of votes cast for that office; and
(B) Defines the term "total number of votes cast" to mean, in the case of multiple openings for the same office, the total number of electors checked as having voted in the State, district, or county, as the case may be.
Your Committee believes that if manual recounts are limited to the affected contest, then election results for that contest will be resolved more quickly and will not leave so many candidates in doubt as to their respective elections.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 168, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 168, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,
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____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair |
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