STAND. COM. REP. NO. 995

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1030

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1030, 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 specify that the practice of election fraud intimidation includes carrying any firearm or weapon at or within two hundred feet of a voter service center, place of deposit, or polling place.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Hawaii State AFL-CIO, Pride at Work Hawaiʻi, and four individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaiian Islands Republican Women and twenty-one individuals.

Your Committee finds that it is the goal of the State to ensure that every voter has the capability to exercise their constitutional rights free from intimidation or coercion. Clear restrictions on carrying firearms or weapons near voter service centers and polling places are essential to preserving the integrity of the State's elections and fostering a secure environment for voters. This measure will reduce the risk of voter suppression and ensure elections remain a place where every voice is heard without fear or undue influence.

Your Committee notes that section 134-9.1(a)(11), Hawaii Revised Statutes, prohibits the carrying or possession of a concealed or unconcealed firearm at any voter service center or other polling place in the State. To ensure that this measure specifically addresses the issue of voter intimidation, your Committee believes that this measure should specify that the dangerous instrument brought to the voter service center, place of deposit, or polling place be unconcealed.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that the practice of election fraud intimidation includes carrying any unconcealed firearm or dangerous instrument at or within two hundred feet of a voter service center, place of deposit, or polling place;

(2) Defining "concealed" to mean, in relation to a dangerous instrument, that the dangerous instrument is entirely hidden from view of the public and not discernable by ordinary observation, in a manner that a reasonable person without law enforcement training would be unable to detect the presence of the dangerous instrument;

(3) Defining "dangerous instrument" to have the same meaning as defined in section 707-700, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(4) Defining "unconcealed" to mean not concealed; and

(5) 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 Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1030, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1030, S.D. 2.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair