STAND. COM. REP. NO.  449-12

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2012

RE:   H.B. No. 1755

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1755 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VOTER REGISTRATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to modify voter registration and related procedures by, among other things:

     (1)  Allowing online voter registration, and establishing that using the electronic application for registration constitutes assent by the applicant for confirmatory information to be obtained from other government databases regarding the applicant's information;

     (2)  Amending record keeping requirements affecting the maintenance of voters' names, affidavits of registration, and the use of tabulating cards, computer tapes, the register, and voter lists;

     (3)  Deleting requirements that the county clerk maintain segregated records for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs registered voters, and the requirement that a person voting for the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs affirm that the person is Hawaiian;

     (4)  Deleting the requirement that the county clerk prepare a list of all registered voters in each precinct to be posted at the precinct polling place on election day; and

     (5)  Appropriating $500,000 from the general fund for fiscal year 2012-2013 for the planning, designing, and implementation of an online voter registration system.

The Office of Elections, Office of the City Clerk of the City and County of Honolulu, Elections Division of the Office of the County Clerk of the County of Kauai, Office of the County Clerk of the County of Maui, American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, the Americans for Democratic Action Hawaii, Common Cause Hawaii, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, and several concerned citizens testified in support of this measure.  

     Your Committee recognizes that due to ongoing national and local problems with identity theft, it would be advisable to reduce the government's use of a person's whole social security number whenever possible.  Accordingly, your Committee finds it to be of great importance that the Chief Election Officer and county clerks study the feasibility of utilizing the last four digits of a person's social security number in lieu of using the whole number.

     Additionally, your Committee finds that the changes made by this measure, particularly the advent of an online voter registration system, will need time to plan, design, and implement.  As such, your Committee has determined a delayed effective date of November 8, 2016, is appropriate for this measure.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the word "assent" to the word "consent";

     (2)  Requiring the Chief Election Officer and county clerks to consider and report on the feasibility of using the last four digits of the social security number in lieu of using that number in its entirety in voter registration and record keeping;

     (3)  Changing the effective date to November 8, 2016, in order for implementation to follow the date of the next general election; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

     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. 1755, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1755, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

GILBERT KEITH-AGARAN, Chair