HB1444

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the current plurality voting method for most elections in Hawaii allows a candidate to win an election with less than a majority of votes when there are three or more candidates for the office. In elections with many candidates, this may result in candidates who received small percentages of votes or who are not the most favored among the voters winning the election. Ultimately, this voting method may undermine the ability of elected officials to govern effectively due to concerns about a lack of public support for and confidence in winners.

The legislature further finds that ranked-choice voting is an election method that allows voters to rank candidates as the voter's first, second, and subsequent 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. If no candidate receives a majority in the second tabulation, the process is repeated by eliminating the candidate with the fewest votes and counting each vote for the highest-ranked remaining candidate in the next round.

Unlike plurality voting, ranked-choice voting ensures that elected officials have the support of a majority or near majority of voters because it allows voters to indicate their preferences among more than one candidate. This allows voters to vote for their favorite candidate without fear of helping to elect their least favorite candidate.

The legislature also finds that ranked-choice voting has been used effectively around the world, including in national elections in Australia, Ireland, Malta, and the United Kingdom; state primary, congressional, and presidential elections in Alaska and Maine; and for local elections in more than twenty United States cities.

In 2022, the legislature established ranked-choice voting for special federal elections and special elections of vacant county council seats in Hawaii. Therefore, Hawaii's voting systems, including optical scanners, should be able to process ranked‑choice voting for all elections with little or no difficulty.

The purpose of this Act is to expand the use of the ranked‑choice voting method for all elections for elective office.

SECTION 2. Chapter 11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding five new sections to part VII to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§11-A Ranked-choice method; applicability. The ranked‑choice method shall be used in all contests for elected office. If the ranked-choice voting method is used in a special election, the special election shall consist of only one election contest and no subsequent separate runoff election shall be held.

§11-B Ranked-choice method; ballots. (a) In addition to the requirements under sections 11-111 and 11-119, in any contest conducted by ranked-choice voting with three or more qualified candidates, including qualified write-ins, the ballot shall allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference.

(b) If more than one seat is to be filled by the contest, the voter may be limited to ranking no more than twice the number of candidates as seats to be filled. Instructions on the ballot for contests with more than one seat to be filled shall include the following statement:

"You may rank up to twice the number of candidates as seats to be filled 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 the ranked-choice method. The informational materials shall be:

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

(2) Posted in or near a voting booth;

(3) Included in the instruction materials for mail-in and 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 held before an election using the ranked-choice method.

(e) Before printing the ballots for an election using the ranked-choice method, 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 no less than fifteen calendar days before printing for public review and comment.

§11-C Ranked-choice voting tabulation. (a) Single winner tabulation. In any contest for exactly one office conducted by ranked-choice voting, tabulation shall proceed in rounds. Each round shall proceed sequentially as follows:

(1) To determine the winner in an election using the ranked-choice method, election officials shall initially count the ballots according to the first-choice candidate marked on each ballot. If at the end of the initial count, one candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes cast, then that candidate shall be deemed to have received the greatest number of votes and tabulation shall be declared complete; and

(2) If at the end of the initial count, no candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes cast, the chief election officer or county clerk, as applicable, shall declare that no candidate has received a majority of first-choice votes and that the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes shall be declared defeated. The chief election officer or county clerk, as applicable, shall recalculate the votes using the continuing candidate with the next highest ranking on each of the ballots for each voter who had selected a defeated candidate. If after the first round of recalculating votes, no candidate has received a majority of votes cast for the office, the process of eliminating last-place candidates, recalculating the eliminated candidates' votes (including any previously recalculated votes) to continuing candidates, and tabulating results shall continue until one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast or the majority of the votes cast for the two remaining candidates. Blank and spoiled votes shall not be tabulated.

(b) Multi-winner tabulation. In any contest for more than one office conducted by ranked-choice voting, tabulation shall proceed in rounds. If, in the initial tabulation, the number of candidates is less than or equal to the number of offices to be elected, then all candidates shall be declared elected and tabulation shall be declared complete. Otherwise, each round shall proceed sequentially, until tabulation is complete, as follows:

(1) Each ballot shall count, at its current transfer value, for the highest-ranked continuing candidate on that ballot. If the sum of the number of elected candidates and the number of continuing candidates is equal to the sum of one and the number of offices to be elected, then the candidate with the fewest votes shall be declared defeated, all other continuing candidates shall be declared elected, and tabulation shall be declared complete;

(2) If at least one continuing candidate has more votes than the election threshold for the contest, then each of those candidates shall be declared elected. Each ballot counting for an elected candidate shall be assigned a new transfer value equal to the product of the ballot's current transfer value and the surplus fraction for the elected candidate, rounded down to four decimal places and ignoring any remainder. Each candidate elected under this paragraph shall be deemed to have a number of votes equal to the election threshold for the contest in all subsequent rounds. A new round shall begin with paragraph (1); and

(3) If no candidate is elected under paragraph (2), then the continuing candidate with the fewest votes shall be declared defeated, and a new round shall begin with paragraph (1).

(c) Inactive ballots. In any round of tabulation in a contest conducted by ranked-choice voting, a ballot that does not contain a highest-ranked continuing candidate shall not count for any candidate. Instead, it shall be counted as an overvote, abstention, or exhausted ballot.

(d) For the purposes of this section:

"Abstention" means a ballot that does not contain a highest-ranked continuing candidate and either more than one ranking order contains the same candidate or one or more ranking orders did not contain any candidate.

"Election threshold" means the number of votes sufficient for a candidate to be elected in a multi-winner contest. The election threshold is calculated by dividing the total number of votes counting for continuing candidates in the first round by the sum of one plus the number of offices to be filled, rounding up to four decimal places.

"Exhausted ballot" means a ballot that does not contain a highest-ranked continuing candidate and is not an abstention or an overvote.

"Overvote" means a ballot that does not contain a highest-ranked continuing candidate because the highest ranking order contains more than one candidate, is not a skipped ranking, and does not contain a candidate who is declared elected or defeated.

"Surplus fraction" means a number equal to the quotient of the difference between an elected candidate's vote total and the election threshold, divided by the candidate's vote total, rounded down to four decimal places, ignoring any remainder.

"Transfer value" means the proportion of a vote that a ballot will contribute to its highest-ranked continuing candidate. Each ballot begins with a transfer value of 1. If a ballot contributes to the election of a candidate under the multi-winner tabulation, it receives a new transfer value.

§11-D Ranked-choice method; vote count. (a) Each voter's ballot shall count for no more than one candidate per contest in each round of tabulation. Once a ballot in a contest using the ranked-choice method has no more available choices ranked on it, the ballot shall be deemed exhausted for that contest.

(b) If a ballot in a contest using the ranked-choice method skips a ranking by leaving a ranking blank and then ranking a candidate at a subsequent ranking, the ballot for that contest shall be deemed exhausted. A ballot that gives two or more candidates the same ranking in a single contest shall be deemed exhausted when that ranking is reached, unless only one of the candidates so ranked is still in the race when the vote is due to be transferred pursuant to section 11-C(b).

(c) If a tie between candidates for last place, and thus elimination, occurs during any round of tabulation, the tie shall be resolved by eliminating the candidate who received the fewest number of combined first-choice votes and recalculated votes at the previous round of tabulation. In the case of a tie to which a previous round of tabulation does not apply, or where the previous round of tabulation was also a tie, the tie shall be resolved by drawing lots; provided that if a tie occurs when there are only two candidates remaining, the tie shall be resolved as set forth in section 11‑157.

(d) In any contest conducted by ranked-choice voting, the chief election official may modify the tabulation to include batch elimination. If the tabulation includes batch elimination, then at any time the continuing candidate with the fewest votes would be declared defeated, each continuing candidate in the elimination batch shall be declared simultaneously defeated instead. A continuing candidate shall be in the elimination batch if the number of elected and continuing candidates with more votes than that candidate is greater than the number of offices to be elected, and it is deemed mathematically impossible for that candidate to be elected for any of the following reasons:

(1) The candidate has fewer votes than any other continuing candidate;

(2) The candidate's current vote total plus all votes that could possibly be transferred to the candidate in future rounds would not be deemed to be enough to equal or surpass the continuing candidate with the next higher current vote total;

(3) The candidate has a lower current vote total than the continuing candidate who is described under paragraph (2); or

(4) The number of ballots with any highest-ranked continuing candidate, on which that candidate is ranked at any ranking order, is fewer than the following:

(A) For contests for exactly one office, the current vote total of the continuing candidate with the greatest number of votes; or

(B) For contests for more than one office, the current vote total of any of the top "x" continuing candidates with the highest current vote totals, where "x" is the number of offices to be elected.

§11-E Rulemaking authority. (a) 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 the ranked-choice method.

(b) The chief election official may make any changes to the ranked-choice voting ballot and tabulation process necessary to preserve the secrecy of the ballot and ensure the integrity and smooth functioning of the election; provided that ranked‑choice voting shall still be used and the smallest number of changes are made to achieve its purposes."

SECTION 3. Section 11-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding five new definitions to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

""Continuing candidate" means any candidate that has not been declared defeated or elected.

"Highest-ranked continuing candidate" means the candidate assigned to the highest ranking order that is not a skipped ranking, does not follow two consecutive skipped rankings, and does not contain a candidate who is declared elected or defeated.

"Ranking order" means the number available to be assigned by a voter to a candidate to express the voter's choice for that candidate. The number "1" is the highest ranking order, followed by "2", and then "3", and so on.

"Round" means an instance of the sequence of voting tabulation whether for single winner contests or multi-winner contests.

"Skipped ranking" means a voter has left a ranking order unassigned but ranks a candidate at a subsequent ranking order."

SECTION 4. Section 11-91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) For any election conducted by ranked-choice voting pursuant to [~~section 11-100,~~] sections 11-A to 11-E, the election proclamation shall include a statement that votes shall be cast and tabulated using ranked-choice voting and shall provide an explanation of ranked-choice voting."

SECTION 5. Section 11-112, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (g) to read as follows:

"(g) The ballot may include information necessary to use ranked-choice voting as described in [~~section 11-100.~~] sections 11-A to 11-E."

SECTION 6. Section 11-151, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§11-151 Vote count. Except for contests conducted by ranked-choice voting pursuant to [~~section 11-100,~~] sections 11-A to 11-E, each contest or question on a ballot shall be counted independently as follows:

(1) If the votes cast in a contest or on a question are equal to or less than the number to be elected or chosen for that contest or question, the votes for that contest or question shall be counted;

(2) If the votes cast in a contest or question exceed the number to be elected or chosen for that contest or question, the votes for that contest or question shall not be counted; and

(3) If a contest or question requires a majority of the votes for passage, any blank, spoiled, or invalid ballot shall not be tallied for passage or as votes cast except that such ballots shall be counted as votes cast in ratification of a constitutional amendment or a question for a constitutional convention."

SECTION 7. Section 11-152, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) In an election conducted by ranked-choice voting, votes shall be counted as provided in [~~section 11-100.~~] sections 11-A to 11-E."

SECTION 8. Section 11-155, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§11-155 Certification of results of election. On receipt of certified tabulations from the election officials concerned, the chief election officer in a state election, or county clerk in a county election, shall compile, certify, and release the election results by district and precinct after the expiration of the time for bringing an election contest. The certification shall be based on a comparison and reconciliation of the following:

(1) The results of the canvass of ballots conducted pursuant to chapter 16;

(2) The audit of records and resultant overage and underage report;

(3) The audit results of the manual audit team;

(4) The results of any mandatory recount of votes conducted pursuant to section 11-158; and

(5) All logs, tally sheets, and other documents generated during the election and in the canvass of the election results.

A certificate of election or a certificate of results declaring the results of the election as of election day shall be issued pursuant to section 11-156; provided that in the event of an overage or underage, a list of all precincts in which an overage or underage occurred shall be attached to the certificate. The candidates to be elected who receive the most votes in any election district shall be declared to be elected; provided that candidates for offices elected by ranked-choice voting shall be declared to be elected pursuant to [~~section 11-100.~~] sections 11-A to 11-E. Unless otherwise provided, the term of office shall begin or end as of the close of voter service centers on election day. The position on the question receiving the appropriate majority of the votes cast shall be reflected in a certificate of results issued pursuant to section 11-156."

SECTION 9. Section 11-100, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

["~~[§11-100] Ranked-choice voting; application; procedure.~~ (a) Any 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) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d), 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) 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) 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) 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 (b).~~

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

SECTION 10. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

SECTION 11. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 12. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2023; provided that this Act shall not apply to any election to be held before July 1, 2023; provided further that the chief election officer and each county clerk shall commence rulemaking pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to effectuate the purposes of this Act immediately upon the effective date of this Act.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1444
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII