STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2484

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2240

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2240, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to facilitate the accuracy and integrity of voter registration rolls.

Specifically, the measure:

(1) Requires the Office of Elections to file an application with Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. (ERIC), by June 30, 2025, for the State to be admitted as a member of the organization;

(2) Requires the Office of Elections to share with each county the information and services made available by ERIC pursuant to the State's membership agreement with the organization;

(3) Requires the Office of Elections and each county office that administers elections to use information and services made available by ERIC to verify their respective voter registration rolls;

(4) Appropriates $125,000 to the Office of Elections to prepare and file an application with ERIC for the State to be admitted as a member of the organization; and

(5) Requires the Office of Elections, before fiscal year 2025-2026, to request as part of its annual budget an appropriation from the Legislature to pay the State's annual membership dues to ERIC.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Office of Elections and one individual.

Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Federation of Republican Women, Aloha Freedom Coalition, and eighty-seven individuals.

Your Committee finds that maintaining accurate and current voter registration rolls is essential to democracy. Your Committee further finds that the State's membership with ERIC and access to ERIC's services can help modernize and ensure the integrity of Hawaii's voter registration system.

Your Committee recognizes that the Office of Elections estimates that joining ERIC would cost the State $148,000 in fiscal year 2024-2025.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Codifying within the Hawaii Revised Statutes provisions relating to the State's membership in ERIC and its use by the Office of Elections and the counties;

(2) Changing the appropriation from $125,000 to an unspecified amount;

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

(4) 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. 2240, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2240, S.D. 2.

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

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair