The state Legislature removed the chore of supervising elections from the lieutenant governor 15 years ago, creating an elections office to do the job. Present Lt. Gov. James “;Duke”; Aiona now proposes that the task be assigned to a new elected secretary of state, but lawmakers should be dubious.

At first blush, the proposal seems acceptable, especially when considering that nearly all states have appointed or elected secretaries of state in addition to lieutenant governors. In 39 states, the secretary of state is the chief election officer, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State.

In the absence of a secretary of state, holding elections in Hawaii was assigned to the lieutenant governor, but that was taken away in 1995 and given to a new eight-member commission. Half the members are chosen by legislative leaders and an equal number by lawmakers of another political party. The commission, perhaps the most bipartisan in the state, hires an elections officer to run things.

If the commission is now found to be unacceptable, the logical alternative would be to assign the work back to the lieutenant governor instead of creating a new bureaucracy.

Aiona says giving the responsibility to a secretary of state would “;create greater accountability for Hawaii voters.”;

Under his proposal, the secretary of state, unlike the lieutenant governor, would be chosen in a nonpartisan election, akin to the City Council and mayoral races. That system would not hide the candidate's party affiliation, and the notion that it would make the role nonpartisan is wishful thinking.

Aiona is right in saying that Hawaii voters now “;have no direct authority over the Office of Elections.”; The same can be said of the state and federal court branches and any number of executive posts filled by political appointees under the system of representative democracy.

The fact that most states have secretaries of state, lieutenant governors or both—Hawaii and Utah are the sole states with only lieutenant governors—may indicate a need. However, while secretaries of state normally have a state constitutional obligation to perform a certain job, most lieutenant governors' main—or only—role is to fill the slot of governor if needed. (The real motivation to be Hawaii's second in command as stepping stone to chief in command has been obvious going back to George Ariyoshi.)

Aiona is likely to make a strong case for his proposed constitutional amendment with information gathered from his colleagues in the past seven years. But blaming the current elections headaches on the commission system rather than recession-caused budget problems or stumbling by a newly-hired, inexperienced elections officer would be a mistake.

If Aiona can make his case, the addition of another state bureaucracy, however small, should await an economic recovery. In the meantime, legislators should apply heat on those they named to the commission to do the job right.