SB401

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the current plurality voting method allows a candidate to win an election without a majority of votes when there are more than two candidates for the office. In elections with many candidates, the plurality method may result in winners who received small percentages of votes and who are not widely supported by voters. For the winners, this may raise concerns about a lack of public support and confidence that may undermine the ability of the elected to govern effectively.

Ranked choice voting is an election method that provides voters the ability to rank candidates in order of choice, as a voter's first, second, and later choices. Tabulation begins with each voter's first choice vote. If a candidate receives a majority of votes, that candidate wins. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and each vote counting for that candidate counts for the voter's second choice in the subsequent round. That process repeats by eliminating the candidate with the fewest votes and counting each vote for the highest-ranked remaining candidate in the next round, until two candidates remain, and the candidate with the most votes wins.

The legislature further finds that ranked-choice voting has been used effectively in the United States and around the world. Notably, New York City implemented ranked-choice voting for the 2021 primaries for the election of its mayor, an election process that engaged several million voters. Maine has successfully implemented ranked-choice voting for two election cycles; in 2018 for primary and general elections of state and congressional offices and in 2020 for the United States presidential election. Alaska voters also approved an initiative in 2020 to implement ranked-choice voting in the 2022 election cycle for all federal and state races. Ranked-choice voting has also been implemented in other jurisdictions, including Australia, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

Furthermore, the legislature finds that the State's voting systems, including optical scanners, can process ranked-choice voting with little or no difficulty.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to implement the use of ranked-choice voting for all partisan primary elections, special elections, and nonpartisan general elections with more than two candidates, in addition to federal elections not held on the date of a regularly scheduled primary or general election as required pursuant to section 11-100, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

SECTION 2. Section 11-100, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§11-100[]] Ranked-choice voting; application; procedure. (a) Any partisan primary election, special election, or nonpartisan general election with more than two candidates, federal election not held on the date of a regularly scheduled primary or general election, and any special election for a vacant seat on a county council shall be conducted by ranked-choice voting.

(b) The chief election officer shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to implement the use of mechanical, electronic, or other means devised for marking, sorting, and counting the ballots and tabulating and transferring the votes in an election using ranked-choice voting; provided that these rules shall be consistent with the intent and purpose of ranked-choice voting.

(c) In addition to the requirements under sections 11-111 and 11-119, the ballots for an election using ranked-choice voting shall allow a voter to rank no more than four candidates for an office in order of preference. If more than one seat is to be filled by the same ballot, the voter may be limited to voting for no more than twice the number of candidates as seats to be filled. Instructions on the ballot shall include the following statement: "You may mark up to three alternate choices in order of preference. Marking a second choice cannot help defeat your first choice. Marking a subsequent choice cannot help defeat your higher-ranked choices".

(d) The chief election officer or county clerk in the case of a county election shall print informational materials containing a facsimile ballot that depicts the official ballot to be used in the election and voting instructions and procedures for the election using ranked-choice voting. The informational materials shall be:

(1) Posted near the entrance to the polling place where the information can be easily seen by voters prior to voting;

(2) Posted in or near a voting booth;

(3) Included in the instruction materials for absentee ballots;

(4) Posted on the website of the office of elections or county clerk, as applicable; and

(5) Included in any voter education materials distributed by the office of elections or county clerk in the case of a county election prior to the election using ranked-choice voting.

(e) Prior to the printing of ballots for an election using ranked-choice voting, the chief election officer or county clerk in the case of a county election shall make a sample ballot available on the website of the office of elections or county clerk, as applicable. The sample ballot shall be accessible on the applicable website for not less than fifteen calendar days prior to printing for public review and comment.

[~~(b)~~] (f) Except as provided in subsections [~~(c)~~] (g) and [~~(d),~~] (h), the following procedures shall be used to determine the winner of an election conducted by ranked-choice voting:

(1) Tabulation of votes shall proceed in rounds;

(2) In each round, the number of votes for each continuing candidate shall be counted, with each continuing ballot counting as one vote for its highest-ranked continuing candidate for that round;

(3) Inactive ballots shall not be counted for any continuing candidate; and

(4) The round shall end with one of two potential outcomes:

(A) If there are two or fewer continuing candidates, the candidate with the most votes shall be declared the winner of the election; or

(B) If there are more than two continuing candidates, the last-place candidate shall be defeated and a new round shall begin.

[~~(c)~~] (g) A tie under this section between candidates for the most votes in the final round or a tie between last-place candidates in any round shall be decided by lot, and the candidate chosen by lot shall be:

(1) Declared the winner if the tie is between candidates for the most votes in the final round; or

(2) Defeated if the tie is between last-place candidates in any round.

[~~(d)~~] (h) The office of elections may modify a ranked-choice voting ballot and tabulation; provided that:

(1) The number of allowable rankings shall be limited to no fewer than six candidates; and

(2) Two or more candidates may be defeated simultaneously by batch elimination in any round of tabulation.

[~~(e)~~] (i) For the purposes of this section:

"Batch elimination" means the simultaneous defeat of multiple candidates for whom it is mathematically impossible to be elected.

"Continuing ballot" means a ballot that is not an inactive ballot.

"Continuing candidate" means a candidate who has not been defeated.

"Highest continuing ranking" means the highest ranking on a voter's ballot for a continuing candidate.

"Inactive ballot" means a ballot that does not rank any continuing candidate, contains an overvote at the highest continuing ranking, or contains two or more sequential skipped rankings before its highest continuing ranking.

"Last-place candidate" means the candidate with the fewest votes in a round of ranked-choice voting tabulation.

"Mathematically impossible to be elected", with respect to a candidate, means that:

(1) The candidate cannot be elected because the candidate's vote total in a round of the ranked-choice voting tabulation, plus all votes that could possibly be transferred to the candidate in future rounds from candidates with an equal or lower number of votes, would not be enough to surpass the candidate with the next-higher vote total in the round; or

(2) The candidate has a lower vote total than a candidate described in paragraph (1).

"Overvote" means a circumstance in which a voter has ranked more than one candidate at the same ranking on a ballot.

"Ranked-choice voting" means the method of casting and tabulating votes in which voters rank candidates in order of preference, tabulation proceeds in sequential rounds in which last-place candidates are defeated, and the candidate with the most votes in the final round is elected.

"Ranking" means the number assigned on a ballot by a voter to a candidate to express the voter's preference for that candidate, in which the lowest number is the highest ranking, and the highest number is the lowest ranking.

"Round" means an instance of the sequence of voting tabulation steps established in subsection (f).

"Skipped ranking" means a circumstance in which a voter has left a ranking blank and ranks a candidate at a subsequent ranking."

SECTION 3. Section 11-112, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§11-112 Contents of ballot. (a) The ballot shall contain the names of the candidates, their party affiliation or nonpartisanship in partisan election contests, the offices for which they are running, and the district in which the election is being held. [In multimember races the ballot shall state that the voter shall not vote for more than the number of seats available or the number of candidates listed where the number of candidates is fewer than the number of seats available.]

(b) The ballot may include questions concerning proposed state constitutional amendments, proposed county charter amendments, or proposed initiative or referendum issues.

(d) When the electronic voting system is used, the ballot may have pre-punched codes and printed information that identify the voting districts, precincts, and ballot sets to facilitate the electronic data processing of these ballots.

(e) The name of the candidate may be printed with the Hawaiian or English equivalent or nickname, if the candidate so requests in writing at the time the candidate's nomination papers are filed. Candidates' names, including the Hawaiian or English equivalent or nickname, shall be set on one line.

(f) The ballot shall bear no word, motto, device, sign, or symbol other than as allowed in this title.

(g) The ballot may include information necessary to use ranked-choice voting as described in section 11-100."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	401
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII