STAND. COM. REP. NO. 556

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1030

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1030 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to specify that the practice of election fraud intimidation includes carrying any firearm or weapon at or near a voter service center, place of deposit, or polling place.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Brady Hawaii, Pride at Work Hawaiʻi, the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, GIFFORDS Law Center to Prevent Violence, and numerous individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaiian Islands Republican Women, SDM Training Group, Bows N Bullets, and numerous individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that existing state law prohibits certain conduct that would improperly influence the election process, such as the use of force, coercion, bribes, or intimidation to cause a person to cast or refrain from casting a particular vote. However, the increased occurrence of gun violence in the State necessitates the prohibition of an additional form of voter intimidation that is not explicitly stated in the law, but which constitutes a form of election fraud that happens and must be addressed as a matter of public safety. This measure addresses this problem by clarifying that the carrying of any firearm or weapon at or near a voter service center, place of deposit, or polling place is a form of intimidation under the existing election frauds law and is a criminal act.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the carrying of any firearm of weapon at or within two hundred feet of any voter service center, place of deposit, or polling place is election fraud intimidation; 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 Public Safety and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1030, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1030, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs,

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BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair