STAND. COM. REP. NO. 545
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: H.B. No. 1740
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1740 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTRONIC VOTING,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to provide accountability for, and assist disabled citizens in, the voting process by prohibiting the use of an electronic voting system unless it generates a paper ballot that may be inspected and corrected by the voter before the vote is cast, and unless every paper ballot is retained as the definitive record of the vote cast. In addition, this bill:
(1) Allows the Chief Election Officer to rely on electronic tallies created directly by the electronic voting systems, instead of hand counting paper ballots or mechanical tabulation systems, only upon certain conditions; and
(2) Establishes that every person who willfully tampers with any electronic voting system to cause inaccuracies in the votes cast is guilty of election fraud.
Americans for Democratic Action, Hawaii Chapter, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, The Mestizo Association, Safe Vote Hawaii, and numerous concerned citizens supported this bill. The Governor of Hawaii, and The League of Women Voters of Hawaii supported the intent of this bill. The Office of Elections and the Disability and Communication Access Board offered comments.
Your Committee recognizes that the foundation of a democratic society rests on a fair, secure, and accountable voting process that addresses the needs of all citizens, including the disabled who may require additional measures to ensure that their vote is reflected accurately. Specifically, voters who are blind and cannot read print material require non-visual means to allow each voter to review his or her selection prior to casting the ballot. Establishing a "paper trail" for the electronic voting system helps to safeguard this electoral process.
Your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Shortening the list of conditions that must be met to allow the Chief Election Officer to rely on electronic tallies created directly by the electronic voting system by deleting:
(A) The requirement that the electronic voting systems are subject to public inspection, audit, and experimental testing, before the election, pursuant to administrative rules; and
(B) The prohibition on upgrades, patches, fixes, or alterations that are applied to the electronic voting systems after the public inspection, audit, and experimental testing;
(2) Inserting an unspecified appropriation for costs incurred in purchasing or otherwise acquiring technology necessary to provide the paper ballots specified in this bill; and
(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style, consistency, and clarity.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1740, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1740, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ SYLVIA LUKE, Chair |
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