Lt. governor
should oversee
vote, report says

But Hirono supports the
present system, which she
says eliminates conflict

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

State auditor Marion Higa and two election experts are recommending the lieutenant governor be put back in charge of running the state's elections.

But Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono says she doesn't want the job.

"Hawaii took a step forward in creating an independent office of elections to eliminate any possible conflict of interest," she said.

The recommendation is part of a report from the Election Oversight Committee, which supervised the recount of the 1998 general election conducted earlier this month. The committee was made up of Higa and two other officials -- Penelope Bonsall of the Federal Election Commission and R. Doug Lewis, the director of a nonprofit organization of election officials.

In most other states, an elected secretary of state -- an office with a similar function to Hawaii's lieutenant governor -- is in charge of elections, the report found. The lieutenant governor is in charge of elections in Alaska and Utah.

In 1995, the Legislature created an independent office of elections and chief election officer and took supervision over elections away from the lieutenant governor. An Elections Appointment Panel appoints the chief election officer. The current system, the committee found, does not allow for oversight over the chief election officer. Instead, the committee recommends the lieutenant governor be able to appoint a deputy to run the elections.

"The public cannot hold the appointment panel accountable for its actions, whereas the public could hold the lieutenant governor responsible for the integrity of elections," the report said.

Higa and the committee found the office of elections lost many advantages -- including greater budget latitude and higher credibility -- when the office was made independent.

The report also recommends the Legislature look at creating an automatic recount provision in the law if the difference between a winning and losing candidate is one percent or less.

The report also calls for a comprehensive review of the state's election laws -- laws the committee calls "obsolete or overly specific."

The oversight committee also found that budget cuts to the office of elections had a significant effect on the ability of the office to conduct elections and said the office of elections was forced to look for another election system to replace the punch card system.

"We believe the office of elections made a reasonable choice in leasing equipment from ES&S" the committee said.

Election Systems & Software is the company that supplied the election counting machines to the state.

Senate Judiciary Co-Chairman Avery Chumbley said moving elections back under the supervision of the lieutenant governor's office is contrary to the direction the Legislature has been moving. But, he said it is something his committee will look into as part of an overall review of the election laws.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a public briefing on the oversight committee's report next week and is considering a resolution to ask the Legislative Reference Bureau to review election laws and suggest changes for next year's legislative session.

"I anticipate significant changes in elections laws in the 2000 session," Chumbley (D, Kihei) said. "I think that is the next step in restoring public confidence in the electoral process."

Elections Appointment Panel Chairman Ray Pua said he has no opinion on whether the office of elections should be under the lieutenant governor, but noted that elections "worked well" when the lieutenant governor supervised them.

House Minority Leader Barbara Marumoto (R, Waialae Iki) said it might be time to consider moving the office of elections back to the lieutenant governor.

"When we first took it (elections) out of the lieutenant governor's office, we were hoping for true autonomy from political influence. Maybe too much autonomy means no accountability," she said.

But fellow Republican Colleen Meyer (R, Kahaluu) said putting elections back under the lieutenant governor creates a conflict because the lieutenant governorship is a stepping stone to the governor's office.

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Elections chief
keeps job, vows
to tackle problems

The appointment panel votes
3-2 for Yoshina, along party lines

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

Chief Election Officer Dwayne Yoshina says he appreciates the opportunity to continue to run the state's elections after the Elections Appointment Panel voted 3-2, along party lines, to reappoint him to his $77,966 a year job.

"I guess the work starts again in earnest," he said. "I have been told some of the concerns that I have to deal with so I'll try to deal with them,"

The panel made the decision to reappoint Yoshina after debating for about two hours yesterday in a meeting that was closed to the public. On Monday, the panel met with Yoshina for more than two hours in a secret session.

Voting for Yoshina's reappointment were the panel's three Democratic members - Chairman Ray Pua, Julie Duldolao and Jerome Hew. The Republican members - Warner Sutton and Barbara Street - voted against.

Republicans and Democrats on the panel emphasized that even though the vote fell along party lines, the members voted as individuals and not because of party affiliation.

"It definitely was not partisan," said Pua. "We were not interested in accommodating the Democratic Party. We were not ganging up against the Republican Party."

The attorney general's office cited an opinion that allowed the Board of Education to interview and deliberate on the selection of Herman Aizawa as School Superintendent as justification to close Yoshina's hearing, despite objections from reporters.

"I believe that this panel was open enough to the public and that we have gone to executive session for a purpose," said Duldolao.

Yoshina's reappointment was opposed by some lawmakers and members of the public because of problems that occurred during last year's election when the office of elections decided to switch to a new voting system with a vendor selected in a no-bid contract.

Other lawmakers, election workers and county election officials supported Yoshina.

Panel members who voted for Yoshina cited his experience and integrity and said many of the problems blamed on Yoshina were not his fault.They blamed the Legislature for funding cuts that prevented Yoshina from doing the best possible job in the election.

Pua saidthat the panel talked to Yoshina about other concerns raised during public hearings.

Pua said Yoshina promised to make rules for access to voting materials and to work harder on advance planning for the next election.

Those who voted against Yoshina said they believed in his integrity and experience, but had concerns about his leadership ability and vision.