STAND. COM. REP. NO.595

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 685

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 685 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS PLACED IN POLL BOOKS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit voters' social security numbers from appearing in poll books.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from a concerned citizen. The Chief Election Officer provided comments on the bill.

Your Committee finds that identity theft is a real concern to citizens, and one way to prevent identity theft is to limit disclosure of one's social security number. Your Committee further finds that poll books contain voters' names, addresses, and social security numbers that are not shielded from other voters' view. Your Committee further finds that the voter registration system uses social security numbers to identify voters and to distinguish between voters with identical names. Your Committee believes, however, and the Chief Election Officer agrees that removing social security numbers from poll books is reasonable in light of privacy concerns.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 685 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair