STAND. COM. REP. NO. 48-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: H.B. No. 1609

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1609 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require and appropriate funds for the Office of Elections to file an application with the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc., for the State to be admitted as a member of the organization;

(2) Require the Office of Elections and each county that administers elections to use the information and services made available by the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc., to verify their voter registration rolls; and

(3) Require the Office of Elections to request an appropriation from the Legislature, before fiscal year 2025-2026, for the State's annual membership dues to the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Elections and Hawaii Young Republicans. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaiʻi Federation of Republican Women and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of the County Clerk of the County of Kauaʻi.

Your Committee finds that the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc., also known as ERIC, is a nonprofit organization that uses secure data-matching tools to help member states improve the accuracy of their voter registration rolls. With nearly half of the United States participating in ERIC, your Committee believes that Hawaii would benefit greatly from the information and services provided by ERIC.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Codifying the requirements for the Office of Elections and counties in the Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(2) Delaying the deadline for the Office of Elections to apply to the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc., to June 30, 2025;

(3) Clarifying that the requirement for the Office of Elections to request the annual membership dues for the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc., is an annual requirement;

(4) Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount;

(5) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $125,000.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1609, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1609, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair