STAND. COM. REP. NO. 144-06

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: H.B. No. 2539

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2539 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to maintain the accuracy of voter registration records by standardizing the Judiciary's reports to the counties concerning persons who are ineligible to vote while imprisoned for a felony. Specifically, this bill:

(1) Directs the courts to report an adult citizen's felony conviction, acquittal of a felony by reason of insanity, or adjudication of legal incompetence, within 20 days after sentencing or entry of other adjudication, to the county in which the citizen is located; and

(2) Sets forth minimum information that must be included in the reports.

The Office of Elections and the Association of Clerks and Election Officers of Hawaii testified in support of this bill. The Judiciary opposed this measure.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Deleting the purpose section;

(2) Limiting the reports to cases involving adult citizens:

(A) Convicted of any felony and sentenced to a term of imprisonment; or

(B) Adjudged legally incompetent;

(3) Amending the reporting requirements as follows:

(A) Eliminating the requirement that the reports be made via certificate transmittals;

(B) Providing that the citizen's name, any known aliases, date of birth, social security number, and residence address or last known residence address be reported to the county to the extent readily ascertainable by the clerk of the court; and

(C) For a felon sentenced to imprisonment, requiring copies of the judgment of conviction and sentence and mittimus to be transmitted to the county;

(4) Removing an outdated reference to suspensions of execution of sentence in the statutory provision prohibiting a felon from voting in an election while imprisoned; and

(5) Changing the effective date to January 1, 2096, to encourage further discussion.

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 H.B. No. 2539, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2539, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

 

____________________________

SYLVIA LUKE, Chair