STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3107

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3226

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 3226, 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 facilitate voter education regarding elections.

Specifically, the measure:

(1) Requires the Office of Elections to:

(A) Prepare and post on its website a digital voter information guide in a screen reader-accessible format;

(B) Provide on its website an Olelo Hawaii translation of the digital voter information guide;

(C) Mail hardcopies of the guide to voters, upon request; and

(D) Prepare, mail, and email a notice regarding the availability of the digital voter information guide;

(2) Requires that the digital voter information guide include candidate statements and photographs and explanations of state constitutional amendments and county ballot issues; and

(3) Appropriates moneys for the Office of Elections to prepare and mail notices to voters regarding the digital voter information guide.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Common Cause Hawaii, Community Alliance on Prisons, Americans for Democratic Action, and five individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance, Office of Elections, and Disability and Communication Access Board.

Your Committee believes that an informed electorate is an important component of a healthy democracy, and that the distribution of informational guides prepared by the Office of Elections, an apolitical entity, will help the electorate in making informed voting decisions.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring that certain information that is made available over the Internet comply with certain accessibility standards; and

(2) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3226, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3226, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair