Report Title:

Close Captioning, Political Ads

 

Description:

Requires that all gubernatorial and state congressional political advertisements and debates during an election period be close captioned. (SD1)

 

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

815

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO ELECTIONS.

 

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

SECTION 1. A citizen's right to vote is the fundamental right in a democracy. This right can be impinged upon when access to election materials is not made available to voters, thereby affecting their knowledge of the issues and the candidates, and thus ultimately affecting their vote. One growing group of voters that has trouble obtaining the information they need to intelligently exercise their franchise is the hard-of-hearing. Much information available on television is lost to them. If televised debates and political advertisements were close captioned, they would be able to obtain the information they need to cast an informed vote.

The purpose of this Act is to require certain political advertisements and televised debates to be close captioned.

SECTION 2. Chapter 11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§11- Close captioning of televised election material. Any political debate or advertisement relating to a party, candidate, or issue involved in a gubernatorial or state congressional election, that appears on television during the period that begins on the deadline for nomination papers to be submitted under section 12-6 and runs through election day shall be close captioned for the hearing impaired."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.