Report Title:
Universal Voter Registration Task Force
Description:
Requires the office of elections to convene a universal voter registration task force. Appropriates funds.
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2993 |
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TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to voter registration.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that only seventeen per cent of persons between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four voted in the 2002 midterm elections, which is half the rate of the voting age population as a whole. Even in the hotly contested 2004 presidential election, barely forty per cent of all eligible voters between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four turned out to vote. One of the most basic reasons is voter registration; only seven out of ten eligible voters in the United States are registered to vote. This rate is even lower for young adults, with less that fifty per cent of eligible voters under the age of twenty-five being registered to vote.
The purpose of this Act is to require the office of elections of convene a universal voter registration task force for the purpose of designing a voter registration system that will result in one hundred per cent registration of voting-age citizens, except for citizens who opt out explicitly and in writing.
SECTION 2. (a) There is established a universal voter registration task force in the office of elections. The goal of the task force shall be to:
(1) Conduct research and create proposals for a voter registration system that will result in one hundred per cent registration of voting-age citizens, except citizens who state in writing that they do not want to be registered voters; and
(2) Recommend to the legislature a framework and proposals for legislation, and implement any proposals created by the task force.
(b) The universal voter registration task force shall consist of the following members:
(1) The director of the office of elections or the director's designee;
(2) The county clerk from each county or the clerk's designee;
(3) One member of the League of Women Voters Hawaii, to be appointed by the governor; and
(4) Interested members of the public who are involved in voter registration and compliance issues, to be appointed by the governor.
(c) The universal voter registration task force may form workgroups and subcommittees to:
(1) Obtain input from stakeholders and other individuals as deemed appropriate by the task force; and
(2) Perform any other functions deemed appropriate by the task force to fulfill its functions.
(d) Members of the universal voter registration task force shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, such as travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties.
(e) The universal voter registration task force shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2007.
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for the fiscal year 2006-2007 to the office of elections to support the operation of the universal voter registration task force.
This sum shall be expended by the office of elections for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval provided that section 3 shall take effect on July 1, 2006.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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