STAND. COM. REP. NO. 550

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 111

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 111 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VOTING,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Clarify that the ballot of an absentee or military-overseas voter is deemed valid even if the voter becomes ineligible to vote after casting the ballot; and

 

     (2)  Repeal the requirement that an absentee voter's ballot is deemed invalid if the voter returns the return envelope but dies prior to the opening of polls on the date of election.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the National Association for Uniformed Services, Hawaii Chapter.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the City Clerk, City and County of Honolulu.

 

     Your Committee finds that this measure provides efficiency in the counting of election ballots, so that cast ballots will not need to be intercepted and segregated due to the voter becoming ineligible subsequent to casting a ballot.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Making a conforming amendment to section 15-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to reflect the repeal of section 15‑13, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

 

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 111, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 111, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair