Election recount should
begin in March if location
can be foundBy Craig Gima Legislature Directory
and Pat Omandam
Star-BulletinChief Election Officer Dwayne Yoshina said he hopes to begin recounting general election ballots early next month, but first must find a locale and ensure officials are available to oversee the recount.
Even before the state House yesterday passed a concurrent resolution asking for a recount of the 1998 general election, Yoshina was working on making arrangements to review the ballots.
The Senate chamber is the official counting center during elections, but since the Legislature will still be in session, Yoshina is looking for another place to hold the recount.
"You're going to need quite a bit of space because you're talking about bringing in all of those ballots and counting them," Yoshina said.
He said it's possible Hilton Hawaiian Village meeting space could be used. He checked the state Convention Center, but the center can only be used if hotels are not available.
He said he believes letters also have been sent to R. Doug Lewis of the Election Center in Houston and to Daniel McDonald of the Federal Elections Commission asking them to assist State Auditor Marian Higa in overseeing the recount.
Yoshina expects the recount to take about 15 days. Results are due back to the Legislature on March 31.
Meanwhile, the House chamber yesterday bristled with debate on the resolution, with some complaining about the lack of a public hearing before it went up for approval.
Two members even voted against the resolution: former House Speaker Joseph Souki (D, Wailuku) and Rep. Ezra Kanoho (D, Lihue).
Souki, speaking on the House floor, said the measure was not needed because there were only 300 irregular ballots out of 400,000 cast during last November's election. Taken as a whole, Souki called it a "very successful election."
The speaker emeritus added the Attorney General's office has stated results from the recount -- even if it uncovers more problems about the election system -- will have no bearing on the outcome.
Souki warned the recount therefore will just add more "fuel to the fire" over the state Office of Elections. Instead, he urged all lawmakers to take some of the blame by not properly funding Yoshina's office with enough staff to ensure the balloting system worked properly.
"No fraud has been shown at this point in time," he said.
Among those voting with strong reservations were state Reps. Romy Cachola (D, Kalihi) and Ron Menor (D, Mililani), who complained to House Speaker Calvin Say (D, Palolo) about bypassing public hearings to make what is essentially a decision behind closed doors.
Cachola said the House Majority Caucus met last Friday to discuss the resolution, even before it was approved by the Senate, and copies were available for House members to review.
"Are we a rubber stamp for the Senate?" Cachola asked.
Cachola also questioned whether the Senate resolution is the best possible option for the Legislature. Cachola and others believe the scope of the resolution should be expanded to cover other areas of the election system, such as why there was a nonbid contract awarded, as well as including a recount of the primary election.
Meanwhile, Rep. Emily Auwae (R, Makaha) -- whose district race was among those that raised questions about the accuracy of the system -- said voters in her district are owed an apology.
Auwae said the large number of overvotes in her district raised rumors by some that residents there were uneducated and voted for more than one candidate in the general election.
That's an insult to everyone in her district, Auwae said.
"Human errors were not the cause," she said.
Senate hears emotional
testimony on physician-
assisted death, suicideBy Pat Omandam Legislature Directory
Star-BulletinAs a volunteer who assists Hospice and AIDS patients, retired social welfare professor Ivor Kraft has witnessed the deaths of 26 people.
While most occurred under caring, humane and dignified conditions, Kraft said some deaths were brutal and merciless in their lack of dignity, and imposed needless and senseless suffering on the dying person and his or her loved ones.
The 75-year-old sums up dying with dignity in one sentence to lawmakers: "I fear degeneration and indignity far more than I fear premature death."
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard lengthy and emotional testimony yesterday on three Senate bills dealing with the issues of physician-assisted death and physician-assisted suicide.
The Senate committee, which continued the hearing into last night, is expected to vote on the bills tomorrow. A House panel on Feb. 6 killed a similar proposal on doctor-assisted suicide, a strong sign the measures will not pass this session even if approved by the Senate.
Gov. Ben Cayetano this session introduced bills to prompt legislative debate on the issue.
Physician-assisted suicide is when a doctor provides a lethal means for a patient to voluntarily end his or her life. Physician-assisted death or euthanasia is when a doctor administers a lethal agent to a patient who requests to die.
While most who testified yesterday afternoon opposed the measures, others believe the time has come for Hawaii to seriously consider legalization of physician-assisted suicide and physician-assisted death or euthanasia.
"Andi" van der Voort, president of the Hemlock Society of Hawaii and a nurse for the past 45 years, said as a health state, Hawaii has devoted much effort to the saving of life, yet the state is afraid to address death.
The Rev. Mike Young of The First Unitarian Church of Honolulu added the measures will allow doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives without problems where hospital staff ignore a person's living will to die with a minimum of pain and suffering.
But Patricia Lee, an advanced practice registered nurse and a member of the governor's Living and Dying panel, told Chairwoman Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Liliha) the panel didn't adequately review the implications of legalizing physician-assisted suicide and physician-assisted death. Lee -- who wrote the panel's dissenting report -- said the push toward legalization detracts from the panel's unanimous recommendations to improve end-of-life care.
Others opposing the bills were members of several health and medical groups, as well as religious organizations.
Errol Christian, program director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaii, argued a person suddenly struck with a disability could opt for death under the bills rather than try to cope with the fear and depression they experience.
"If we allow this to be the law of the land, we have reduced our society to that of animals -- allowing only the survival of the fittest," he said.
Fireworks Straw Poll Results Here are phone comments the Star-Bulletin received in response to the questions: Should fireworks be banned or limited in any way? Why or why not? You make the call
Danny Shin, Salt Lake -- "Fireworks should be totally banned because it's a nuisance and dangerous, and I don't buy a cultural reason. They are bothering so many people just for that one cultural reason. There are a lot of other areas that don't have this type of activity, but still all the cultural things are preserved."
LEGISLATIVE BRIEFS
Bill on setting guidelines for mutual benefit societies killed
Citing the need to study the issue, a Senate committee has killed a bill that imposed guidelines on how mutual benefit societies such as HMSA can change their constitutions.The measure was prompted by HMSA members and health care practitioners upset at how the agency last November changed its constitution and bylaws. They contend those changes give more power to HMSA's 27-member board rather than its 600,000 members.
Senate Consumer Protection Co-Chairman Brian T. Taniguchi (D, Manoa) on Tuesday recommended Senate Bill 872 be held so his committee can review it during the legislative interim. He said the committee intends to structure a proposal for next year.
HMSA is the only such entity now operating in the state.
Domestic abuse could carry stiffer penalty if child present
The crime of domestic abuse could have greater penalties if it occurs in front of a child.That's what would happen under bills being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bills would either create a separate offense of domestic abuse in the presence of a child or allow a judge to consider whether a minor was present when a defendant is sentenced.
"While the children are not responsible for the violence, they are deeply scarred by being in the same home where the violence occurs," Sandra Joy Eastlack of Child and Family Service told the committee Tuesday.
The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to decide on the bills and other domestic violence measures on Friday.
