Bill seeks elections
office accountability

A plan places the office back
under control of the lieutenant governor

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By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com

Saying the office needs supervision, state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa wants to move the Office of Elections back to the Lieutenant Governor's Office.

The elections office and the state's chief election officer have been operating independently for more than 10 years after the Legislature took them away from the supervision of the Lieutenant Governor's Office.

"The reason why that was done was because the lieutenant governor was an elected official and the lieutenant governor had control over elections," said Hanabusa, Judiciary Committee chairwoman.

"Now, as it stands, the office reports to no one; there is no one to hold the office or the chief election officer accountable in any way," said Hanabusa (D, Nanakuli-Makua).

Neither Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona nor Dwayne Yoshina, chief election officer, returned telephone calls regarding Hanabusa's bill.

The measure comes up before Hanabusa's committee on Wednesday.

After concerns were raised about how the 1998 election was run, Marion Higa, state auditor, was asked to join a panel to recount portions of the election and also report on how it was conducted.

Although she praised Yoshina for the way he ran the Elections Office, Higa said the office should not be allowed to operate without supervision.

"We believe that an elected official should appoint the chief election officer. In most other states, this is the secretary of state who has functions similar to those of Hawaii's lieutenant governor," Higa said.

Hanabusa said her plan would "get the accountability to the people."

"With all due respect to Mr. Yoshina, he basically runs his own show," Hanabusa said. "If someone is upset with Dwayne Yoshina, there is nothing you can do about it."

The chief election officer is appointed to four-year terms by a state elections panel. Yoshina, who is up for reappointment this year, is the only person who has held the position since the Elections Office went independent.