House Committee on Judiciary (JUD) - chair: Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran, vice chair: Karl Rhoads

Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 2:00 p.m.

Testifier: Marian W. Wilkins, LWV Elections Committee Member

Click here to view HB1754

The League of Women Voters of Hawaii supports HB1754 which would allow the Office of Elections to facilitate voting for small populations of residents whose voting districts have been redrawn due to the latest census and redistricting. Since polling places normally have ballots that list candidates that are to be elected from that specific area and since the numbers of voters who fall into each special category would be small, staffing and furnishing all the accoutrements for these polls would be burdensome and expensive. It therefore seems reasonable to send ballots to the voters involved and have them returned by mail. The method would be the same as absentee voting. It is a tried and true method and would simplify the voting in these areas for all concerned. The Office of Elections carried out an entire special election for a Congressional seat on very short notice and it went very well. We are confident that in the special circumstances that the redistricting has created, voting by mail is the solution. Thank you for your consideration.