STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2262

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2627

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2627 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ARRANGEMENT OF CANDIDATE NAMES ON BALLOTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require:

(1) That any new contract entered into by the Office of Elections for equipment or services relating to preparing ballots or counting votes include the capability to randomize the names of candidates appearing on the ballot, if technologically possible;

(2) The names of candidates to be placed upon the ballot for their perspective offices in a randomized order, to the greatest extent possible; and

(3) The Office of Elections to inform voters and candidates, by a method suited for the voting system, that the names of candidates may not be in alphabetical order.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from forty-eight individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Elections.

Your Committee finds that currently, on ballots in the State, candidates for a specific office are listed in alphabetical order starting with the letter "A", and the ballots are identical across precincts for that office. However, numerous publicly available studies show that the election candidate who is listed first on a ballot has an advantage over the other candidates listed. Your Committee further finds that several states, such as California and Ohio, arrange the candidates' names randomly across ballots so that each possible permutation appears an equal number of times. This measure will allow candidates to be represented fairly and equally on ballots in the State.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2627 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair