STAND. COM. REP. NO. 151-16
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2016
RE: H.B. No. 1579
Honorable Joseph M. Souki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Eighth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2016
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1579 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Require the Office of Elections and county offices that administer elections to use the information and services provided by the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to verify their voter registration rolls; and
(2) Appropriate $25,000 for the Office of Elections to join ERIC.
Your Committee finds that citizen participation in elections is vital to the American democracy; however, more than 51,000,000 eligible citizens nationwide have not registered to vote. Moreover, one in eight voter registration records contains a serious error, and many voter registration systems remain inefficient and largely based on outdated technology.
Enrollment in ERIC will help Hawaii improve the accuracy of its voter registration rolls by using secure data-matching tools. Currently, it is very difficult to determine if a potential voter has already voted in another state. Hawaii can use ERIC to determine whether a citizen is registered or has voted in another state and, thus, may be ineligible to vote in Hawaii.
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. 1579 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair |
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