STAND. COM. REP. NO.985

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 1604

S.D. 1

 

 

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. 1604 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CITIZENS RIGHT TO VOTE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to encourage voter participation by creating new registration and election procedures.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Life of the Land, two members of Hawaii Pro-Democracy Initiative, and the League of Women Voters of Hawaii. The Office of Elections provided comments.

Your Committee finds that in the last national election Hawaii's registered voter turnout ranked lowest in the nation. Your Committee believes that voter participation should be encouraged to enable citizens to govern through the representative form of government. Pursuant to testimony received, your Committee amended the bill by:

(1) Adding a new section to chapter 11 that sets forth the citizen's right to vote;

(2) Limiting permanent absentee voter status to two election cycles;

(3) Deleting the amendment to §11-15 that removes social security numbers from the list of required registration information, and replacing it with an amendment to §11-136 that prohibits poll books from containing social security numbers;

(4) Deleting the amendment to §11-24 relating to register closing from the bill to conform to the current closing day that is necessary to process registrations;

(5) Amending §15-4 to delete the amendment that removes social security numbers from the required information on requests for absentee ballots; and

(6) Amending the list in the purpose section to reflect the sections of the bill in numerical order.

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. 1604, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1604, 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 Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair