STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1516
Honolulu, Hawaii
H.D. 1
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 199, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTION PROCLAMATIONS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The
purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Repeal the requirement that election
proclamations contain a statement of the time and places where an election is
to be held; and
(2) Specify that the County Clerk, not the Chief Election Officer, shall issue an election proclamation listing information on voter service centers and places of deposit.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Elections, Common Cause Hawaii, LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, and eight individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.
Your Committee finds that since the establishment of vote-by-mail throughout the State, many of the procedural requirements for the conduct of elections are out of date. Because elections now take place over a longer period of time during which voters may submit ballots via the mail or in person at a place of deposit or voter service center, a statement of the time and place in which an election is to be held is no longer relevant to voters. Your Committee further finds that specifying that the County Clerk, not the Chief Election Officer, shall issue election proclamations related to voter service centers and places of deposit will ensure timelier issuance and dissemination of information to voters because the county clerks are charged with establishing the centers and places of deposit.
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. 199, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading 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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________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair |
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