STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3006

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2162

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2162 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RANKED CHOICE VOTING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to implement the use of ranked choice voting for special elections held for congressional races and vacant county council seats.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Common Cause Hawaii, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, FairVote Action, Americans for Democratic Action, Green Party Hawaii, Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, and eleven individuals.

Your Committee finds that ranked choice voting provides voters with the ability to rank candidates in order of preference and has been used effectively in other jurisdictions in the nation and the world. Your Committee believes that the State should explore its use in certain special elections.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Moving the proposed language relating to the contents of an election proclamation into the existing statutory section relating to election proclamations;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(3) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2162, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2162, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair