[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6689057,"mediaKeyId","2171458-b99be2c631b6d1ffe4547483dc98cc1c","parentId",2171458,"title","Chief Election Officer says he lacks authority to change voting method; public presses for audits and chain-of-custody records","audioSeconds",2549,"startMs",1721000,"endMs",4270000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2171458-b99be2c631b6d1ffe4547483dc98cc1c&start=1721&end=4270","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2171458-b99be2c631b6d1ffe4547483dc98cc1c/thumbnail_1721000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6689057/Hawaii/Chief-Election-Officer-says-he-lacks-authority-to-change-voting-method-public-presses-for-audits-and-chain-of-custody-records","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6689057-5c590b37a622f9f28a32bd41dc61ecc1/orig.mp4?Expires=1770636449&Signature=VSx1oPH-hZhNBn0G9nuziAXyCmUnf23azO6t4Spou0CUJcWiFMCLkXrSFesUGh8WmeloR2dChWRUujnyapUkBXF8MkXEff4xLZ9SjT4Ev9MStvPhQCY7NnaFfklS3iw346iD9Hj0AXYMyp8jrA62yit4hASu5kgvtgBN40P~RVtBSeWPkyXZwIw41RgfQ9FhXMpcNhD54MKjneayOyDHC15AQzPs9pe1KTIodIQd9BH6O3rEkTmzy3k~HN6igrJF7AHL78IT2rOgZ~JsdeD6nzMIeLrEK~t0dDIFLZtgVGdrA83MTK70jY1li8~TasKw2kvYo~LV-lwvuB7yifOFBQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Hawaii - Office of Elections","date","2025-01-01T05:04:38.933Z","article","The Elections Commission heard from Chief Election Officer Scott Nago that he does not believe state law gives him authority to change Hawaii’s method of voting from the current vote-by-mail system to single-day, in-person voting with voter ID.

“...I do not believe I have that authority. The authority is in statute, which requires the method of voting,” Nago told commissioners. He said significant changes to the state’s voting method would require legislative action.

Public testimony that followed focused on audits, chain-of-custody questions for mail ballots and signature‑verification procedures. Several speakers described lengthy in-person voting lines at Kapolei Hale on Nov. 5 and urged a return to more robust same‑day options. Others — including official observers and volunteers — pressed the commission to obtain detailed chain-of-custody documentation from counties and the U.S. Postal Service and to require post-election manual audits of ballot envelopes and paper ballots.

Kauai discrepancy and auditing requests: Multiple speakers referenced a reported numerical discrepancy on Kauai. Testifier Ke Kilani Ho cited a 661‑ballot overage between state-reported mail‑in ballot envelopes (27,075) and the county-reported collected voted envelopes (26,414) presented in a lawsuit, and urged a physical recount of mail‑in ballot envelopes or ballots on all islands. Nolan Chang, speaking for the Hawaii Republican Party, said the party had submitted Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA) requests seeking details about the post‑election pre‑certification audit (including how many ballots were audited and whether hand tallies were used) and asked the commission to compel county clerks to respond.

Observers and accessibility: Official election observers and volunteers described operations at signature‑verification centers and at voter service centers. An observer said they were asked to sign off on numbers of boxes, not the numbers of ballots inside boxes secured in locked cages. Several witnesses described periods when only two county workers and one state worker were present during late-night processing, raising concerns about staffing and chain-of‑custody safeguards. Accessibility advocates also testified that returning exclusively to one‑day in‑person voting would require careful planning to maintain access for voters with disabilities; the Elections Accessibility Advisory Committee members noted the vote-by‑mail statute and related accessibility provisions.

Requests and motions: Commissioners debated motions to request chain-of-custody documentation from counties and to request other records; some motions were placed, seconded and then failed for lack of a second or were not taken up. Several speakers said the post‑election pre‑certification audit required by law should include hand tallies of a random sample of at least 10% of precincts using electronic voting systems; Nolan Chang asked for documentation proving how many ballots were audited and how precincts were chosen. Testimony also described delays or incomplete responses to UIPA requests sent to county clerks and to the Office of Elections.

Why it matters: Questions about ballot security, signature verification, post‑election auditing and transparency of county operations directly affect public confidence in election outcomes. The chief election officer’s assertion that a statutory change would be required to alter the voting method places the onus for any major change with the Legislature; meanwhile, citizens and party representatives asked the commission to press counties for documentary transparency and to ensure statutory audits are fulfilled.

The commission did not adopt new statewide changes to voting methods during this meeting. Public testimony continues to emphasize audits, chain‑of‑custody records, and clearer, timely responses to information requests from county offices.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Elections Commission Meeting - December 18, 2024","oneSentenceSummary","Chief Election Officer Scott Nago told the Elections Commission he does not believe he has authority to switch the state from all-mail voting to one-day in-person voting; dozens of public speakers urged audits, chain-of-custody documentation and transparency after reported discrepancies in Kauai.","taxTitle","Office of Elections, Executive , Hawaii","taxId",26065,"location","Hawaii","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6689063,"Elections Commission approves Aug. 27 minutes after tense debate over adding deputy AG comments",518,224000,742000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2171458-b99be2c631b6d1ffe4547483dc98cc1c&start=224&end=742","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2171458-b99be2c631b6d1ffe4547483dc98cc1c/thumbnail_224000.jpg","/articles/6689063/Hawaii/Elections-Commission-approves-Aug-27-minutes-after-tense-debate-over-adding-deputy-AG-comments","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6689063-9c24e54e6572b01e586258e2b80c8e77/orig.mp4?Expires=1770636449&Signature=Knb-mTZ5EtSkNKw~QuASsLjshBiT4ZD3TwFun9bpphC8nsoUxgeTCDZsIxy-i7YwdnYNfXe3kWpCw5de25b3zFhpvOBontlwqIplhJAAYjCVIPoQ4u7e8XYfOSvvCEC9ZS5lLqRZqIy2UHSz7mrwOR52Qh0uDQH3SzZgruGRw6hyxcgBKxNxffB~jdPAkZbB4wC7dimNa1fXoPVefsIZObOodo4y0xTmnf1BfHp~G5r326ZJWFaRsBbRm9ixgsg6fRUWxqa-cRL6pPEudMQeP7amKZ1ZwD9vlIjehs3eB-8b8MziBTueIssoQ0Ch2X54VvyC~IYyr1K7HN83oEcbtA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Elections Commission voted 5–3 to approve the written minutes of its Aug. 27 meeting after an extended debate over whether to add a specific quote from Deputy Attorney General Yi to the record.

Commissioners clashed over accuracy and procedure after Commissioner Kushner moved to amend the minutes to include what he described as a direct quote from Yi about the Attorney General’s role. “The role of the Attorney General's office is to represent the commission as a whole, not individual members,” Yi was reported to have said, and some commissioners pushed to include that language verbatim in the minutes.

Supporters of adding Yi’s remarks argued the statement was material to understanding how legal advice had been given; opponents said the quote needed independent verification and insisted that adding isolated exchanges would misrepresent the fuller context. Commissioner Kushner said staff should “take the complete universe [of] the statements that Mr. Yi made” and add them with the statements to which Yi was responding. Commissioner Cushni and others raised concerns about cherry-picking and misquoting.

After discussion, the motion to amend the minutes failed to secure the votes needed to change the draft. The commission then considered the main motion to approve the minutes; a roll call resulted in a 5–3 vote to approve. The chair announced, “Motion carries.”

The session’s disagreements were bound to a larger procedural dispute: members repeatedly debated whether actions taken at the Aug. 27 meeting remained valid while an Office of Information Practices (OIP) complaint about a wrongly posted Zoom URL was unresolved. Deputy Attorney General Yi advised the commission that because the prior meeting was the subject of a Sunshine Law complaint it was “voidable” and that the office recommended re-placing disputed motions on a properly noticed agenda if the commission wanted a definitive record.

Commissioners split on how to proceed. Some said the commission should re-vote items from the prior meeting at a fully sunshined session; others said the earlier actions remained in force until a court or OIP formally voided them. Multiple attempts followed to rescind or revalidate motions from the prior meeting; several of those efforts failed for lack of a second or due to procedural objections. At least one motion to rescind a prior agenda item failed for lack of a second, and another attempt to rescind item 6 (a separate request about ballot-image definitions) was later approved by roll call.

The dispute briefly escalated into a confrontation during the meeting when a commissioner attempted to make a motion without being recognized; the chair moved to recess and the meeting momentarily paused before resuming with a roll call. Commissioners then returned and continued to address agenda items and public testimony.

Why it matters: The debate underscores the commission’s central procedural tension — whether contested prior actions should be treated as valid while a Sunshine Law complaint is pending, or whether they must be re-adopted at a properly noticed meeting. That procedural question affects whether items tied to the earlier meeting would stand without further votes.

The commission moved on after approving the minutes and continued with public testimony and agenda items related to voting methods, ballot handling and audits. The Office of Information Practices has the complaint pending; OIP’s forthcoming determination could affect which prior actions remain effective.","The Elections Commission voted 5–3 to approve written minutes from its Aug. 27 meeting after a heated exchange over a proposed amendment to add remarks attributed to Deputy Attorney General Yi and repeated procedural disputes tied to a pending Sunshine Law complaint.","actionData","errors"]

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Chief Election Officer says he lacks authority to change voting method; public presses for audits and chain-of-custody records

Elections Commission approves Aug. 27 minutes after tense debate over adding deputy AG comments