STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3884

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1883

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1883, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the exterior of the envelope containing the ballot package for elections by mail to include instructions on how to obtain language translation services in Hawaiian and certain other non-English languages; and

(2) Apply to all elections beginning with the 2024 primary election.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Elections, Office of Language Access, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Hawai‘i Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Common Cause Hawaii, Hawai‘i Friends of Civil Rights, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action, and six individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Honolulu Elections Division.

Your Committee finds that Hawai‘i is the most diverse state in the country with a diversity index of seventy-six percent. The April 2016 Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism Research and Economic Analysis Division report on the non-English speaking population in Hawai‘i indicated that the number of non-English speakers at home increased by forty-four percent from 1980 to 2014, and that Ilocano, Tagalog, and Japanese were the top three most common non-English languages spoken at home, comprising approximately half of the non-English speakers. Your Committee further finds that language translation services are already required and used by the State and counties for in-person voting. This measure will ensure that limited English proficient voters are informed about how to obtain language translation services when voting by mail.

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. 1883, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair