The Kauai County Council February 16, 2023, approved resolution 2023-21 that formally opposes HB 132 and SB180 which were proposed by the Office of Elections purpose is to eliminate paper audits of vote counting machines as required by HRS 16-42. These paper ballot audits were specifically put into law so Hawaii Voters and Candidates could have an assurance the the electronic voting machine counts are accurate.
Opponents of HB132/SB180 are encouraging the other Hawaii County Councils to follow Kauai's example.
RELATED: HB132 Would Eliminate Election Auditing
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RESOLUTION OPPOSING HOUSE BILL 132 AND SENATE BILL 180 INTRODUCED IN THE 2023 HAWAI'I STATE LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Approved by Kauai County Council Feb 16, 2023
WHEREAS, during the Twenty-Third Legislative Session in 2005, House Bill 1740 was introduced and adopted by the House of Representatives, and signed into law as Act 200; and
WHEREAS, Act 200 (2005) amended Hawai'i Revised Statutes Section 16-42 by adding requirements for post-election pre-certification audits when using electronic voting systems and is intended to ensure the accuracy of elections against any and all questions, and as required by Hawai'i Revised Statutes Section 16-2; and
WHEREAS, though Hawai'i Revised Statutes Section 16-42 as amended took the counting of the ballots out of the hands of the people of Hawai'i and gave it to a private corporation it established post-election audits to confirm the accuracy of election results; and
WHEREAS, Hawai'i Revised Statutes Section 16-42 (b) (3) allows the chief election officer to rely on electronic tallies created directly by the electronic voting systems if, the chief election officer conducts a post-election, pre-certification audit of a random sample of not less than ten per cent of the precincts employing the electronic voting system to verify that the electronic tallies generated by the system in those precincts equal hand tallies of the votes cast on the paper ballots generated by the system in those precincts; and
WHEREAS, during the 2022 Primary and General Elections, election observers noted that the Office of Elections was not following audit procedures pursuant to Hawai'i Revised Statutes Section 16-42 (b) (3) and were comparing ballot images to the output of the electronic voting system instead of comparing the actual ballots to the electronic voting system tallies; and
WHEREAS, during the current Legislative Session, House Bill 132 and Senate Bill 180 propose amendments to Hawai'i Revised Statutes Section 16-42 which would remove the requirement to audit a random sample of no less than ten per cent of precincts and the use of hand tallies of the paper ballots to verify electronic tallies; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KAUA'I, STATE OF HAWAI'I, that the Council opposes House Bill 132 and Senate Bill 180 because they propose eliminating the use of hand tallies of the votes cast on the paper ballots to audit the electronically generated tallies and therefore eliminates an effective audit procedure, which ensured the accuracy of Hawai'i elections.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council urges the Office of Elections to adopt policies and procedures which instill public confidence in Hawai'i's election process and do its best to address on-going questions about elections in general.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution be sent to Governor Josh Green, Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi, Representative Nadine K. Nakamura, Representative Daynette "Dee" Morikawa, and County of Kaua'i Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami.
Introduced by: MEL RAPOZO
February 16, 2023
TGI: Lawmakers against axing paper ballot audits