SR128

WHEREAS, every eligible person should be able to register to vote in a convenient and secure way that is beneficial to new voters and administrators alike; and

WHEREAS, key voter registration improvements can ensure state election systems are secure and efficient, safeguard votes, and save money; and

WHEREAS, in the 2024 primary election, for example, the State experienced its lowest turnout in sixty-five years, with only 32.1 percent of registered voters filling out a ballot; and

WHEREAS, to improve statewide voter turnout, the State must enact measures that strengthen the right to vote; and

WHEREAS, in 2021, the State established automatic voter registration to increase the State's historically low voter participation rates; and

WHEREAS, the automatic voter registration system established by the Legislature was an opt-in system that places the responsibility for voter registration on the part of individual voters, which fails to fully include the total potential population of new voters; and

WHEREAS, changing the State's automatic voter registration system from an opt-in to an opt-out model would maximize democratic participation by making voter registration as streamlined as possible; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Office of Elections is requested to convene a working group on automatic voter registration; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to make recommendations regarding changing the State's automatic voter registration initiative to be an opt-out program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to consist of the following members:

(1) The Chief Election Officer, or the Chief Election Officer's designee, who is requested to serve as the working group's chairperson;

(2) The Director of the Department of Customer Services of the City and County of Honolulu, or the Director's designee;

(3) A representative from Common Cause Hawaii;

(4) A representative from the League of Women Voters of Honolulu; and

(5) A representative from the Institute for Responsive Government; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2026; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Elections Officer, Director of the Department of Customer Services of the City and County of Honolulu, Executive Director of Common Cause Hawaii, President of the League of Women Voters of Honolulu, and Executive Director of the Institute for Responsive Government.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Automatic Voter Registration; Office of Elections; Working Group

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	128
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII