HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1590

TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO ELECTIONS.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  Many studies have shown that the election candidate who is listed first on a ballot has an advantage.  Currently, candidates are listed on the ballot in alphabetical order starting with the letter "A".

     The purpose of this Act is to create a process to make the advantage of being the first listed on a ballot a random event, therefore, the candidates will be listed in alphabetical order starting with a letter that is randomly selected by the chief election officer.

     SECTION 2.  Section 11-115, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§11-115  Arrangement of names on the ballot.  (a)  The names of the candidates shall be placed upon the ballot for their respective offices [in alphabetical order except:]; provided that no later than sixty days prior to the first election of the election cycle, or on the second Tuesday in June prior to the first election of the election cycle, whichever occurs first in time, the chief election officer shall select a letter of the alphabet by lot; and for primary, general, and special elections during each election cycle:

     (1)  Candidates whose last names begin with the letter selected pursuant to this subsection shall be placed first upon the ballot and the names of other candidates shall follow in alphabetical order, beginning with the letter that follows the letter selected by lot;

     (2)  Provided that when the last names of two or more candidates begin with the same letter, the names of the subject candidates shall be arranged in alphabetical order, starting with the letter "A", of the second and subsequent letters of the candidates' last name, then the first and subsequent letters of the candidates' first name; and

     (3)  The chief election officer shall inform voters and candidates, by a method suited for the voting system, of the order that the candidates will be listed on the ballot.

     For purposes of this subsection "election cycle" means a series of two-year periods that begin on the first day in January after a general election and concludes after twenty-four months on the last day in December; provided that the first election cycle begins on January 1, 2018 and ends on December 31, 2018.

     (b)  In addition to the requirement of subsection (a), arrangement of candidate names on a ballot shall be:

     (1)  As provided in section 11-118;

     (2)  [For] Subject to the limitations of the voting system in use; and

     (3)  [For] In the case of the candidates for vice president and lieutenant governor in the general election [whose], the names of those candidates shall be placed immediately below the name of the candidate for president or governor of the same political party.

    [(b)] (c)  In elections using the paper ballot or electronic voting systems where the names of the candidates are printed and the voter records the voter's vote on the face of the ballot, the following format shall be used:  A horizontal line shall be ruled between each candidate's name and the next name, except between the names of presidential and vice presidential candidates and candidates for governor and lieutenant governor of the same political party in the general election.  In such case the horizontal line shall follow the name of the candidates for vice president and lieutenant governor of the same political party, thereby grouping the candidates for president and vice president and governor and lieutenant governor of the same political party within the same pair of horizontal lines.

     [(c)] (d)  Immediately to the left of (before) or to the right of (after) the candidate name or names, according to the requirements of the voting system, two vertical lines shall be ruled, so that in conjunction with the horizontal lines, a box shall be formed to the left of or to the right of the name and its equivalent, if any.

     [(d)] (e)  In case of the candidates for president and vice president and governor and lieutenant governor of the same political party, only one box shall be formed opposite their set of names.  The boxes shall be of sufficient size to give ample room in which to designate the choice of the voter in the manner prescribed for the voting system in use.  All of the names upon a ballot shall be placed at a uniform distance from the left edge and close thereto, and shall be of uniform size and print subject to section 11-119."

     SECTION 3.  The chief election officer is directed to establish procedures to implement the purpose of this Act, which shall apply to the election cycle beginning on January 1, 2018.

     SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2017.

 

Report Title:

Elections; Ballot; Arrangement of Names

 

Description:

Requires the Chief Election Officer to select a letter of the alphabet by lot and arrange candidate names on ballots in alphabetical order by last name, beginning with the randomly selected letter.  Requires notice to voters and candidates of the order that candidates will be listed on the ballot by a method suited for the voting systems.  Directs the Chief Election Officer to establish procedures to implement this new procedure for elections beginning January 1, 2018.  (HB1590 HD1)

 

 

 

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