HB448

SECTION 1. Voting is an essential part of democracy, as citizen participation in elections is vital to the health and well‑being of a representative form of government. The legislature finds that the problems Hawaii has experienced in the past with an inadequate number of election workers during election days contributes to voter frustration and makes the voting process a negative experience for new voters.

Other states face similar difficulties in recruiting sufficient numbers of precinct officials. According to the Hawaii office of elections, approximately three thousand five hundred poll workers are needed statewide to run an election. Should the numbers of precinct officials continue to dwindle in future elections, Hawaii's lack of election workers may further contribute to voter apathy and indifference.

The legislature finds it is important to increase the number of precinct officials who are willing and available to work on election days. The purpose of this Act is to recruit eligible high school students to work at election sites during election days.

SECTION 2. Section 11-72, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) In assigning the precinct officials, the following criteria shall be followed:

(1) The precinct officials shall be registered voters of the precinct in which they serve; but if qualified persons in the precinct or representative district are not readily available to serve, they may be chosen from without the precinct or representative district, or if qualified persons either in or without the precinct or representative district are not available to serve, the chief election officer may designate precinct officials who are not registered voters if the persons so designated are otherwise qualified and shall have attained the age of sixteen years on or before June 30, of the year of the election in which they are appointed to work; provided that, notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, a high school student who is enrolled in a civics or other appropriate instructional program approved by the department of education and receives class credit for working at an election site during an election shall qualify as a precinct official;

(2) The chief election officer may designate more precinct officials than are needed in order to create a pool of qualified precinct officials who may be assigned to fill vacancies or to perform their duties as needed in any precinct;

(3) No parent, spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, child, or sibling of a candidate shall be eligible to serve as a precinct official in any precinct in which votes may be cast for the candidate; nor shall any candidate for any elective office be eligible to serve as a precinct official in the same election in which the person is a candidate. No candidate who failed to be nominated in the primary or special primary election shall be eligible to serve as a precinct official in the general election next following; and

(4) The chairperson of the precinct officials shall be the first named precinct official on the list prepared by the chief election officer. The remainder of the precinct officials shall be apportioned as follows:

(A) The total votes cast, except those cast for nonpartisan candidates, for all of the following offices that were on the ballot in the next preceding general election shall be divided into the total votes cast for all the candidates of each party for these offices: president and vice-president, United States senator, United States representative, governor and lieutenant governor, state senator, and state representative;

(B) If a party's proportion of votes cast exceeds fifty per cent, its share shall be one-half of the precinct officials. The remaining one-half shall be divided among the remaining parties in proportion to their respective total of votes cast for the offices set forth in subparagraph (A);

(C) In the case of the above division resulting in parties having fractional positions, a whole position shall go to the party with the larger number of votes cast; and

(D) Newly qualified parties may be assigned up to ten per cent of the total positions available at the discretion of the chief election officer."

SECTION 3. The department of education shall require, as part of a civics or other appropriate instructional course at each public high school in the State, that students who qualify to be precinct officials work as precinct officials during election days for class credit. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to carry out the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	448
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII