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

Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 2:00 p.m., Conference Room 325

Testifier: Janet F. Mason, Vice-President, LWV of Hawaii

Click here to view HB2437

Chair Keith-Agaran, Vice Chair Rhoads, members of the Committee on Judiciary, The League of Women Voters of Hawaii strongly supports an adequate operating budget for the Office of Elections to run and maintain the State’s voting systems for the 2012 elections, and keep the State of Hawaii in compliance with its obligations under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-252). However, the League encourages development of new, 21st century voting systems, including online voter registration, and would prefer having more knowledge of how this large appropriation will be spent. Making democracy work in Hawaii requires that we maintain adequate voting system standards. It is critical that voters have confidence in our voting systems, and we heartily endorse all reasonable efforts the Office of Elections can take to safeguard Hawaii’s voting systems. The Federal “Help America Vote” financing has been an invaluable source of money to maintain, secure and modernize our voting system, and Hawaii should continue to meet the level of expenditures required for the Act’s “maintenance of funding” requirement. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this measure.