Election chief balks The state's chief election officer says state law may provide him with too much authority to alter the course of the election process.
at greater authority
The governor had argued the chief
could alter election deadlinesBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"Do you really want to give the chief election officer the kind of discretionary powers that are perhaps interpreted to be there (in the law)?" Dwayne Yoshina said yesterday. "I'm not certain that we would want to do that."
Yoshina's statements came as his office prepares for at least two elections next month and a possible third election in January to fill the vacancy created by the death of Democratic U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink.
On Wednesday the state Supreme Court rejected a petition by Gov. Ben Cayetano asking it to direct Yoshina to extend the deadline for when the Democratic Party could name a replacement for Mink on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
Mink died Sept. 28, two days after the original deadline.
Cayetano argued that Yoshina has the discretion under the law to waive the deadline and other requirements in the case of a candidate vacancy.
The high court said it appears Yoshina has that discretion, but the justices refused to order him to exercise that authority. The court also said Yoshina probably could not act anyway because no administrative rules are in place.
"For other chief election officers, they might love (the power), right?" Yoshina said. "But for myself, I feel uncomfortable with having too much discretionary power or authority because then you would be able to really change the playing field."
The section of the law that gives Yoshina the discretion to waive election deadlines in the case of vacancies was not initially intended for a situation like Mink's vacancy.
Yoshina said part of the law was designed to address a vacancy created by a recall election. The law was amended following a 1985 recall election of three city councilmen who switched to the Republican from the Democratic Party midterm. Mink, then on the City Council, led the recall effort.
"We wrote it broadly so that the (county) clerks would have the flexibility to address any kind of contingency that came up, and that's why it's written that way," Yoshina said. "I guess it was read to mean all types of elections situations. We'll probably go back and revisit that."
The Supreme Court's ruling means Mink's name will remain on the general election. Also running for Mink's 2nd Congressional District seat are Republican Bob McDermott, Libertarian Jeff Mallan and Natural Law candidate Nicholas Bedworth.
There will also be a Nov. 30 special election to fill the remaining month of Mink's current term. So far, 27 candidates have filed nomination papers for that seat.
Yoshina said he will likely use the current district lines to determine which voters get to cast ballots in the 2nd District, which covers the neighbor islands and rural Oahu.
Mink was elected two years ago, before district lines were redrawn because of the 2000 census and reapportionment. Since then, parts of her old district, mostly in Waipahu and Mililani Mauka, were put into the congressional district now represented by U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie.
State officials were faced with the question of whether they have to use the district lines drawn prior to 2001 or whether they can use the current precincts and voter lists for the Nov. 30 special election.
"We're leaning towards using the 2001 lines because they're the most current information and ... we will eliminate much of the voter confusion, aggravation and frustration that might arise if we tell people on Nov. 5 to vote in one district, and then on the 30th tell them you cannot vote because the lines have changed," Yoshina said.
He said he will make a final decision within a week.
Another special election will be held Jan. 4 if Mink wins the general election posthumously to fill the two-year congressional term that begins Jan. 3.
