STAND. COM. REP. NO.  797

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.B. No. 1131

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1131 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE PRIMARY ELECTION DATE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to provide additional time between the primary and general elections for the State to fulfill its legal requirements by changing the date of the primary election from the second to the last Saturday in September to the second Saturday in August.

     The Office of Elections, Office of the County Clerk of the County of Maui, Office of the City Clerk of the City and County of Honolulu, and The League of Women Voters of Hawaii testified in support of this bill.  The Campaign Spending Commission offered comments.

     Your Committee finds that additional time is needed to address the following:

     (1)  The Federal Voting Assistance Program recommends 45 days in transit time for overseas absentee mail ballots.  In some years, there have been only 45 days between  Hawaii's primary and general elections, leaving no time to produce the general election ballots or to subsequently receive them;

     (2)  The 45-day period is even more compressed because State law allows for a six-day period following the primary election to contest the election.  Additional unspecified time is needed to await a decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court; and

     (3)  Precinct officials, control center personnel, and others need more time to train for the general election.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Requiring candidate and noncandidate committees to file an additional preliminary report with the Campaign Spending Commission on September 30^th of the year of the primary election;

     (2)  Requiring candidate committees to file their first preliminary report on July 5^th instead of July 30^th; and

     (3)  Changing the effective date to January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

     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. 1131, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1131, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

____________________________

TOMMY WATERS, Chair