THE SENATE                           S.R. NO.              11
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  RESOLUTION

  URGING A FULL, COMPLETE, AND DULY SUPERVISED AUDIT OF THE 1998
    GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS. 


 1        WHEREAS, public confidence and trust in the voting process
 2   and the integrity and belief that "each vote counts" are the
 3   cornerstone of our democratic system; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, questions and concerns have been raised with
 6   regards to the integrity of the election process in the 1998
 7   general election; and
 8   
 9        WHEREAS, the Chief Election Officer, in consultation with
10   the county clerks, decided to change the voting methodology for
11   the 1998 elections; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, Democratic Party of Hawaii v. Elections Office of
14   the State of Hawaii, Supreme Court (Hawaii) No. 22069
15   (January 19, 1999), was filed to address concerns about the
16   election process and the electronic tally system used in the
17   general election; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, the Court ordered a manual vote count to audit
20   the disproportionate number of overvotes tallied by the
21   electronic vote counter; and
22   
23        WHEREAS, the court-ordered manual count of the general
24   election results in Precinct 01, District 44, resulted in an
25   overvote tally of 7, which varied significantly from the 157
26   overvotes tallied by the electronic vote counter; and
27   
28        WHEREAS, Election Systems and Software (ES&S), a private
29   company contracted by the Office of Elections, at the time of
30   the manual count, could not explain the discrepancy; and
31   
32        WHEREAS, in subsequent tests of this particular machine by
33   ES&S, it was determined that the machine had malfunctioned; and
34   
35        WHEREAS, subsequent audits conducted by the Chief Election
36   Officer of selected precincts revealed several minor but
37   troubling overvote reports due to machine error, including
38   errors resulting from ink and other smudges, and loose
39   electrical connections, in addition to the machine malfunction
40   of Precinct 01, District 44; and
41   

 
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                                  S.R. NO.              11
                                                        S.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1        WHEREAS, to establish the integrity of the results of the
 2   1998 election and the soundness of the electronic vote counting
 3   process used in the 1998 general election, Geoff Ryan, Senior
 4   Vice-President of ES&S has expressly committed to pay the
 5   expenses of a full and complete audit of the 1998 general
 6   election results, including in such audit, a full recount of
 7   the ballots, a manual audit of any discrepancies that may be
 8   revealed, or a combination of a partial or full recount and a
 9   manual audit; and
10   
11        WHEREAS, the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii has
12   expressed an opinion to both the Governor and the Senate, that
13   an audit the 1998 general election may be performed by the
14   Chief Election Officer pursuant to the duty to supervise all
15   state elections provided under section 11-2, Hawaii Revised
16   Statutes, but that the results of the audit can have no legal
17   effect on the outcome of any of the elections; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, the Attorney General has further opined that the
20   Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii has exclusive jurisdiction
21   to resolve elections contests and because the time to contest
22   any of the election results is long past, there is no legal
23   mechanism to change the election results; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, the Chief Election Officer, having the authority
26   to initiate the audit of any election results as opined by the
27   Attorney General, and desiring to maintain the integrity and
28   trustworthiness of the 1998 general election, has offered to
29   initiate a full and thorough audit of the 1998 general election
30   results, using all safeguards established by law and such
31   safeguards as may be prescribed by this Resolution; now,
32   therefore,
33   
34        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
35   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, that the Chief
36   Election Officer, with the assistance of ES&S, conduct an audit
37   of the 1998 general election, in the presence of independent
38   official observers and in accordance with section 16-45, Hawaii
39   Revised Statutes; and
40   
41        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the audit begin with the use
42   an infrared vote-counting machine to recount all ballots,
43   including absentee ballots, cast in the 1998 general election,
44   and that the audit continue with such further manual recounts
45   as determined by the Chief Election Officer in consultation
46   with independent official observers; and 
47   

 
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                                  S.R. NO.              11
                                                        S.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in order to protect the
 2   integrity of the audit process and thereby restore the public's
 3   trust in the election system, the State Auditor, a
 4   representative of the Federal Elections Commission, and a
 5   representative of the Elections Center, are requested to serve
 6   as an independent oversight committee representing the
 7   legislature and the voters, to observe, review, assess, and
 8   report on the objectivity and accuracy of the audit process;
 9   and
10   
11        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Election Officer
12   shall complete and submit a report of the results of the audit
13   process to the legislature no later than March 31, 1999; and
14   
15        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the independent oversight
16   committee is requested to submit a report of its findings
17   regarding the objectivity and accuracy of the audit process and
18   any other findings and recommendations regarding the electronic
19   vote counting process to the legislature no later than March
20   31, 1999; and 
21   
22        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
23   Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Lieutenant
24   Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Election Officer, the
25   Auditor, the Federal Elections Commission, the Elections
26   Center, and the President and local company representative of
27   Election Systems and Software.