Report Title:

Voting; Elections by Mail

Description:

Establishes a pilot program to have one or more precincts vote by mail in a federal or state primary or general election.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

433

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to elections by mail.

 

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

SECTION 1. In the 2004 presidential election, a record amount of voters requested absentee ballots. This trend indicates that more voters are finding voting by mail an easier option to voting at the polls on election day.

One state, Oregon, uses voting by mail as the exclusive method for casting ballots. From Oregon's experience with voting by mail, it has found that:

(1) Voter participation increases with voting by mail because it is easier for people to vote;

(2) Voting by mail is cost effective, as there are fewer costs associated with the staffing of polling sites;

(3) Having the ballots for a longer period of time lets voters study their choices and find answers to their questions before making their votes; and

(4) Unlike computer voting, voting by mail continues to have a paper ballot that is voter verifiable and may be audited.

The purpose of this Act is to establish a pilot project in which all ballots from one or more precincts are mailed to registered voters in a federal or state primary or general election. The chief election officer following the election will evaluate the pilot project, and the evaluation shall be reported back to the legislature.

SECTION 2. (a) An election by mail shall be conducted as provided by this section for the 2006 election year. The chief election officer shall:

(1) Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for conducting an election by mail; and

(2) In consultation with the appropriate county clerk, designate one or more precincts to participate in an election by mail only for a regularly scheduled federal or state primary or general election.

The chief election officer shall provide notice by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the precinct that the pilot project shall be by mail only and that no poll will be open in the precinct on election day. This information shall also be mailed to each voter with the ballot. All voters shall receive a ballot by mail with instructions on completing and returning the ballot to the chief election officer.

(b) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d), the county clerk shall mail by nonforwardable mail:

(1) An official ballot;

(2) A return identification envelope; and

(3) A secrecy envelope;

to each voter between eighteen days and fourteen days before the date of the election.

(c) If the county clerk determines that a voter does not receive daily mail service from the United States Postal Service, the county clerk shall mail by nonforwardable mail:

(1) An official ballot;

(2) A return identification envelope; and

(3) A secrecy envelope;

to the voter between twenty days and eighteen days before the date of the election.

(d) If a voter requests a ballot to be mailed outside of the State, the county clerk shall mail by nonforwardable mail:

(1) An official ballot;

(2) A return identification envelope; and

(3) A secrecy envelope;

to the voter on or after the twenty-ninth day before the election.

(e) Upon receipt of a ballot by mail, the voter may:

(1) Mark the ballot;

(2) Sign the return identification envelope supplied with the ballot; and

(3) Comply with the instructions provided with the ballot.

The voter may return the marked ballot to the county clerk by United States Postal Service or by depositing the ballot at any place of deposit designated by the chief election officer or the county clerk. All postage for ballots returned by the United States Postal Service shall be provided by the voter.

(f) A mailed ballot shall be counted if:

(1) It is received by the county clerk not later than the end of the period determined by the chief election officer;

(2) It is received in the return identification envelope;

(3) The envelope is signed by the voter to whom the ballot is issued; and

(4) The signature is verified pursuant to subsection (g).

(g) The chief election officer, the county clerk, or a designee appointed by the chief election officer or the county clerk shall verify the signature of each voter on the return identification envelope, according to the procedures provided by the rules adopted by the chief elections officer pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

(h) In an election by mail, the method of preparing ballots for counting may begin no sooner than the seventh day before the election. In the presence of official observers, counting center employees may start to count the ballots on the day of the election. All handling and counting of the mailed-in ballots shall be according to the procedures provided by the rules adopted by the chief election officer pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes."

SECTION 3. Following the election by mail, the chief election officer shall review the pilot project in section 2 and report findings and recommendations, including any proposed implementing legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the regular session of 2007, regarding:

(1) An evaluation of the costs and benefits of holding an election by mail;

(2) The effectiveness of the pilot project; and

(3) The feasibility of extending the pilot project to other precincts; implement election by mail on a statewide, permanent basis, including recommendations as to any changes that may be necessary to implement the project on a wider basis; or adopting another alternative or returning to the status quo.

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2005-2006, for the purpose of conducting an election by mail pilot project during the 2006 election season.

SECTION 5. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of accounting and general services for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2005.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________