Report Title:

Election; Nomination

 

Description:

Requires senatorial or representative candidate to be a qualified voter in the district prior to filing primary election nomination papers except in the case of an incumbent senator when displaced by reapportionment.

 

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1430

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 6, OF THE HAWAII CONSTITUTION, TO CHANGE THE ELIGIBILITY TO SERVE AS A MEMBER OF THE SENATE OR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to propose an amendment to article III, section 6, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii to require that a candidate for a state legislative office be a qualified voter in the district in which the candidate seeks to represent prior to filing nomination papers for the primary election.

At present, candidates have until the day of the general election to qualify for office from a particular district, and are not required to become a qualified voter in that district until after the results of the primary election are known. The proposed amendment requires candidates to be a qualified voter in the district they aspire to represent as a condition of filing nomination papers and of having their name placed on the ballot at the primary election.

The amendment would improve public confidence in the election process by reducing the potential for candidates to seek office in a particular district based on their chances of success, and eliminating the ability of candidates to move to the appropriate district only upon a favorable result at the primary election. The amendment also increases the likelihood that candidates will be more knowledgeable and interested in the district for which they seek office by virtue of having lived in the community.

SECTION 2. Article III, section 6, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS

Section 6. No person shall be eligible to serve as a member of the senate unless the person [shall have] has been a resident of the State for not less than three years, [have] has attained the age of majority and [be] is a qualified voter of the senatorial district from which the person seeks to be elected[.] prior to filing nomination papers for the primary election, except that an incumbent senator shall not be disqualified for the remainder of the term when reapportionment displaces the senator from the district from which the senator was elected. No person shall be eligible to serve as a member of the house of representatives unless the person [shall have] has been a resident of the State for not less than three years, [have] has attained the age of majority and [be] is a qualified voter of the representative district from which the person seeks to be elected[.] prior to filing nomination papers for the primary election, except that an incumbent representative shall not be disqualified for the remainder of the term when reapportionment displaces the representative from the district from which the representative was elected."

SECTION 3. The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

"Shall a candidate seeking office in a senatorial or representative district be required to become a qualified voter in that district prior to filing nomination papers for the primary election?"

SECTION 4. Constitutional material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New constitutional material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This amendment shall take effect upon compliance with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.

INTRODUCED BY:

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