Report Title:

Nonpartisan Elections by 2006

Description:

Provides that all state elections shall be nonpartisan by the 2006 general election. Requires the chief election officer to analyze and make recommendations to facilitate the transition to a State nonpartisan election system.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

510

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to elections.

 

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

SECTION 1. Section 11-77, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

"(a) Each [qualified political party] candidate shall be entitled to appoint no more than one watcher in each precinct and absentee polling place in which the candidates [of such party] are on the ballot. Each [party] candidate shall submit its list of watchers not later than 4:30 p.m. on the tenth day prior to any election to the chief election officer or to the clerk in county elections. All watchers shall serve without expense to the State or county. All watchers so appointed shall be registered voters. No person shall serve as a watcher who could not qualify to serve as a precinct official under section 11-72(3).

(b) Each watcher shall be provided with identification from the chief election officer, or by the clerk in the case of county elections, stating the watcher's name and the name of the [party] candidate the watcher represents. On election day the watcher shall present identification to the chairperson of precinct officials of the precinct or precincts where the watcher is to serve."

SECTION 2. Section 11-112, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The ballot shall contain the names of the candidates, [their party affiliation or nonpartisanship in partisan election contests,] the offices for which they are running, and the district in which the election is being held. Political party affiliation shall not be designated except as provided in section 11-113. In multimember races the ballot shall state that the voter shall not vote for more than the number of seats available or the number of candidates listed where such number is less than the seats available."

SECTION 3. Section 11-115, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

"(a) The names of the candidates shall be placed upon the ballot for their respective offices in alphabetical order except:

(1) As provided in section 11-118; and

(2) For the limitations of the voting system in use[; and].

[(3) For the case of the candidates for vice president and lieutenant governor in the general election whose names shall be placed immediately below the name of the candidate for president or governor of the same political party.]

(b) In elections using the paper ballot or electronic voting systems where the names of the candidates are printed and the voter records the voter's vote on the face of the ballot, the following format shall be used: A horizontal line shall be ruled between each candidate's name and the next name[, except between the names of presidential and vice presidential candidates and candidates for governor and lieutenant governor of the same political party in the general election. In such case the horizontal line shall follow the name of the candidates for vice president and lieutenant governor of the same political party, thereby grouping the candidates for president and vice president and governor and lieutenant governor of the same political party within the same pair of horizontal lines]."

SECTION 4. Section 11-117, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) [On receipt of the notice of death, withdrawal, or upon determination of disqualification, the chief election officer or the clerk shall inform the chairperson of the political party of which the person deceased, withdrawing, or disqualified was a candidate.] When a candidate dies, withdraws, or is disqualified after the close of filing and the ballots have been printed, the chief election officer or the clerk may order the candidate's name stricken from the ballot or order that a notice of the death, withdrawal, or disqualification be prominently posted at the appropriate polling places on election day."

SECTION 5. Section 11-118, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§11-118 Vacancies; new candidates; insertion of names on ballots. [(a) In case of death, withdrawal, or disqualification of any party candidate after filing, the vacancy so caused may be filled by the party. The party shall be notified by the chief election officer or the clerk in the case of a county office immediately after the death, withdrawal, or disqualification.

(b) If the party fills the vacancy, and so notifies the chief election officer or clerk not later than 4:30 p.m. on the third day after the vacancy occurs, but not later than 4:30 p.m. on the fiftieth day prior to a primary or special primary election or not later than 4:30 p.m. on the fortieth day prior to a special, general, or special general election, the name of the replacement shall be printed in an available and appropriate place on the ballot, not necessarily in alphabetical order; provided that the replacement candidate fills out an application for nomination papers and signs the proper certifications on the nomination paper and takes either an oath or affirmation as provided by law. If the party fails to fill the vacancy pursuant to this subsection, no candidate's name shall be printed on the ballot for the party for that race.]

(a) The replacement candidate for a vacancy caused by the death, withdrawal, or disqualification of candidate shall be the candidate who received the next highest number of votes for inclusion on the ballot. If there is no replacement candidate for the office the race in question was being held, the office shall be filled in the manner provided by law for vacancies in office arising from the failure of an elected official to serve the official's full term in office because of death, withdrawal, or removal.

[(c)] (b) If the ballots have been printed and it is not reasonably possible to insert [an alternate's] the name of a replacement candidate, the chief election officer shall issue a proclamation informing the public that the votes cast for the vacating candidate shall be counted and the results interpreted as follows:

(1) In a primary or special primary election[:

(A) In partisan races, if, but for candidate's vacancy, the vacating candidate would have been nominated pursuant to section 12-41(a), a vacancy shall exist in the party's nomination, to be filled in accordance with subsection (b).

(B) In nonpartisan races, if,] if, but for the candidate's vacancy, the vacating candidate would have qualified as a candidate for the general or special general election ballot pursuant to section 12-41(b), the [nonpartisan] candidate who received the next highest number of votes shall be placed on the ballot provided that the candidate also meets the requirements of section 12-41(b).

(2) In a special, general, or special general election, if, but for the candidate's vacancy, the vacating candidate would have been elected, a vacancy shall exist in the office for which the race in question was being held, to be filled in the manner provided by law for vacancies in office arising from the failure of an elected official to serve the official's full term because of death, withdrawal, or removal.

(3) In any other case where, but for the candidate's vacancy, the vacating candidate would have been deemed elected, a vacancy shall exist in the office for which the candidate has filed, to be filled in the manner provided by law for vacancies in office arising from the failure of an elected official to serve the official's full term in office because of death, withdrawal, or removal.

[(d) The parties shall adopt rules to comply with this provision, and those rules shall be submitted to the chief election officer.]

[(e)] (c) The chief election officer or county clerk in county elections may waive any or all of the foregoing requirements in special circumstances as provided in the rules adopted by the chief election officer."

SECTION 6. Section 11-172, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§11-172 Contests for cause; generally. With respect to any election, any candidate, [or qualified political party directly interested,] or any thirty voters of any election district, may file a complaint in the supreme court. The complaint shall set forth any cause or causes, such as but not limited to, provable fraud, overages, or underages, that could cause a difference in the election results. The complaint shall also set forth any reasons for reversing, correcting, or changing the decisions of the precinct officials or the officials at a counting center in an election using the electronic voting system. A copy of the complaint shall be delivered to the chief election officer or the clerk in the case of county elections."

SECTION 7. Section 12-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§12-31 Selection of [party] ballot; voting. No person eligible to vote in any primary or special primary election shall be required to state a party preference or nonpartisanship as a condition of voting. Each voter shall be issued the primary or special primary ballot [for each party and the nonpartisan primary or special primary ballot]. A voter shall be entitled to vote only for candidates [of one party or only for nonpartisan candidates.] on the ballot. If the primary or special primary ballot is marked contrary to this paragraph, the ballot shall not be counted.

[In any primary or special primary election in the year 1979 and thereafter, a voter shall be entitled to select and to vote the ballot of any one party or nonpartisan, regardless of which ballot the voter voted in any preceding primary or special primary election.]"

SECTION 8. Section 12-41, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§12-41 Result of election. [(a) The person or persons receiving the greatest number of votes at the primary or special primary as a candidate of a party for an office shall be the candidate of the party at the following general or special general election but not more candidates for a party than there are offices to be elected; provided that any candidate for any county office who is the sole candidate for that office at the primary or special primary election, or who would not be opposed in the general or special general election by any candidate running on any other ticket, nonpartisan or otherwise, and who is nominated at the primary or special primary election shall, after the primary or special primary election, be declared to be duly and legally elected to the office for which the person was a candidate regardless of the number of votes received by that candidate.

(b)] Any [nonpartisan] candidate receiving at least ten per cent of the total votes cast for the office for which the person is a candidate at the primary or special primary[, or a vote equal to the lowest vote received by the partisan candidate who was nominated in the primary or special primary, shall also be a candidate at the following election; provided that when more nonpartisan candidates qualify for nomination than there are offices to be voted for at the general or special general election, there shall be certified as candidates for the following election those receiving the highest number of votes, but not more candidates than are to be elected.] shall also be a candidate at the following election."

SECTION 9. The chief election officer shall review current statutes for conformance to the intent of this Act by:

(1) Developing the appropriate transitions plans to a nonpartisan State election system;

(2) Reviewing campaign spending laws; and

(3) Taking any other actions necessary

so that all State elections will be nonpartisan by the 2006 general election.

SECTION 10. The chief election officer shall submit to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2004 and the regular session of 2005, a detailed report on the status of the transition to a state nonpartisan election system and any legislation recommended to further effectuate the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 11. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 12. This Act shall take effect upon approval; provided that sections 1 through 8 shall take effect on July 1, 2005.

INTRODUCED BY:

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