STAND. COM. REP. NO. 221-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2132

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Human Services & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 2132 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VOTING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize state agencies to implement automatic voter registration if designated by the Office of Elections; and

(2) Require eligible applicants for instruction permits, provisional licenses, driver's licenses, and identification cards to be automatically registered or preregistered to vote unless the applicant opts out.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action; Green Party of Hawaiʻi; Imua Alliance; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Libertarian Party of Hawaii; Hawaiian Islands Republican Women; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Office of Elections.

Your Committee finds that across the country, automatic voter registration has increased participation, especially among young people, working families, and groups that are often underrepresented. It can also save money and reduce administrative burdens for election officials by simplifying registration and reducing paperwork. Your Committee further finds that Hawaii's existing opt‑in automatic voter registration system has not fully achieved its goal of increasing voter participation and continues to place the burden of registration on individual voters. Transitioning to a more robust, streamlined voter registration process that is integrated into driver's license, permit, and identification card transactions will strengthen election security, improve administrative efficiency, and expand access to voter registration opportunities statewide.

Your Committee recognizes the concerns raised in testimony by the Department of the Attorney General that conditioning the Department of Transportation's transmission of information for the purposes of automatic voter registration on an applicant's documentary proof of citizenship may create federal preemption risk under the National Voter Registration Act, which is built around an attestation-based model and limits the amount of information that may be obtained by Department of Motor Vehicles registration for the purposes of voter registration to the minimum amount necessary for election officials to assess eligibility and administer registration.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language requiring the examiner of drivers to collect and transmit documentation from an applicant demonstrating that the applicant has United States citizenship and instead requiring an applicant to attest to United States citizenship status in a manner permitted by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993;

(2) Deleting language referencing the examiner of drivers maintaining records, or verifying proof, of documentation demonstrating citizenship status;

(3) Requiring that an applicant be mailed instructions on how to request an electronic ballot, rather than instructions on how to request a large-print ballot;

(4) Clarifying that the transmission of an applicant's record and signature render the voter registration application incomplete if the applicant is ineligible to vote or preregister to vote, regardless of whether the applicant wilfully and knowingly took affirmative steps to register or preregister to vote;

(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.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2132, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2132, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services & Homelessness,

____________________________

LISA MARTEN, Chair