STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2109

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 461

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 461 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CLASS C FELONIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the maximum monetary penalty for providing false information during the process of registering to vote.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Elections, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Maui, Maui County Police Department, and Common Cause Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that the acknowledgements currently required of persons registering to vote are inconsistent with state statutes related to voter fraud. As a result, persons registering to vote on the day of an election receive obsolete information about their responsibilities as voters and the potential consequences of committing voter fraud. This measure will clarify the penalties associated with committing voter fraud and ensure that the acknowledgements required of persons registering to vote are consistent with other related state statutes.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Replacing language requiring persons registering to vote to acknowledge that providing false information is a class C felony with language requiring persons registering to vote to acknowledge that voter fraud is a class C felony, punishable by a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both; and

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

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 S.B. No. 461, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 461, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

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BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair