It is absolutely, definitely, a play to keep Hawaiians out.
That's all it is. It is totally spiteful. ... I don't know if we want
to make a deal about it, but it's pretty bad.
C. Mamo Kim,
ASUH president, 1997-98

Student government
at UH in turmoil

A runoff election is ‘a play to keep
Hawaiians out,’ says next year's president

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

An attempt to hold a runoff election for student body president at the University of Hawaii-Manoa has thrown the student government into turmoil.

The dispute -- pitting outgoing student senators against incoming ones -- has prompted charges of racism from those who successfully ran for office under a "native Hawaiian slate" last month.

"Things are really kind of out of control right now," said Scott Nishimoto, whose term as student body president expired May 1.

"There's a lot of confusion going on right now," he said Tuesday.

C. Mamo Kim, one of 10 elected members of the slate and next year's president, believes more than uncertainity may be involved.

"It is absolutely, definitely, a play to keep Hawaiians out," Kim said.

"That's all it is. It is totally spiteful.... I don't know if we want to make a deal about it, but it's pretty bad," she said.

The drama began April 30 when Nishimoto's 38-member senate declared a tie in the 1997-98 president's race and voted to hold a runoff because the span of votes between the top two candidates -- Kim and Cheyenne Fujimori Fry -- was less than the margin of error for last month's elections.

The new senate can go in and decide what they want to do.
The thing that I don't understand is, how can the new
senate decide their own election?
Scott Nishimoto,
ASUH president, 1996-97

Jan M. Javinar, director of Co-Curricular Activities, Programs and Services, said the margin of error is calculated by comparing the number of valid ballots cast and the number of voter signatures on the register and the number of ballots issued.

If the margin is greater than the number of votes between top candidates, then that race is declared a tie. But if those votes exceed the margin, then the leader wins, Javinar said.

In last month's election, 668 valid ballots were cast. Kim received four more votes than Fry for president. But Van Hiyakumoto, Associated Students of UH chief elections officer, mistakenly determined the margin of error to be five. As a result, the outgoing senate declared a tie and called for a runoff for presidency.

That action, however, prompted new senators to ask the UH office that oversees the student government to conduct its own balloting. Javinar said his investigation showed the margin of error was actually two votes, giving the presidency to Kim.

Javinar called a special meeting this past Monday with both senates to report his findings. Still, outgoing student leaders voted not to rescind their original motion for a runoff.

Upset by that decision but lacking a quorum on Monday, the new senate met the next night, Tuesday, and officially overturned the decision. Kim was then certified as president, Javinar said.

Now, former senators plan to file a protest with the UH, a matter that will likely be addressed by the eight-member UH Student Court, Nishimoto said.

"My senate made a decision to uphold what we decided on the 30th," he said. "But the new senate can go in and decide what they want to do. The thing that I don't understand is, How can the new senate decide their own election?"

Kevin G. Shollenberger, associate director of the Co-Curricular Activities, Programs and Services office, said he understands how people unfamiliar with the details might see it as racism, although he believes that isn't the case. Mistakes made in the election tabulation process in a year with so much attention on this Hawaiian slate compounded the problem, he said.

The controversy shows a need to revise election rules, Shollenberger added.

"I know people are very upset and there are a lot of hurt feelings, but I think in the long run there will be a lot of positive effects from it," he said.