Report Title:

Candidate Eligibility

 

Description:

Proposes an amendment to Article III, section 6, of the State Constitution to require that, prior to filing nomination papers for the primary election, a candidate for state legislative office shall be a qualified voter in the district that the candidate seeks to represent.

 

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1543

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 REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN 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, requiring that prior to filing nomination papers for the primary election, a candidate for a state legislative office shall be a qualified voter in the district which the candidate seeks to represent.

At present, candidates for state legislative office have until the day of the general election to qualify for office in a particular district. Consequently, a candidate can wait until after the results of the primary election are known before moving to, and becoming a qualified voter in, that district. The proposed amendment would change this situation by requiring that candidates for state legislative office be qualified voters in the district they aspire to represent as a condition of filing nomination papers and having their name placed on the ballot at the primary election.

The proposed amendment would improve public confidence in the election process by eliminating the ability of candidates to move to the district they seek to represent only upon a favorable result at the primary election, thus reducing the basis for the perception that a candidate seeks office in a particular district based solely on the candidate's chance of success. The amendment would also increase the likelihood that candidates will be knowledgeable and interested in the district in 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 been a resident of the State for not less than three years, have attained the age of majority and be 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 been a resident of the State for not less than three years, have attained the age of majority and be 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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