COM 1056.001 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The League of Women Voters: Proposed Changes for the Hawai'i County Charter Article XI: Petition Initiative and Referendum The Petition Initiative and Referendum process protects the right of citizens to establish laws. The League of Women voters has worked with members of the 2% for the Land Fund campaign to re- write Article XI in clear, unambiguous language and to provide guidelines to assure that the process is fair for all participants, citizens and the county. It is important to note that this is basically a reorganization of the existing Article into chronological order. The proposed Charter re-write for Article XI: 1. Reorganizes the Charter amendment into a more chronological order of the process, in clear language, which is easier to follow. 2. Provides procedures and time periods to approve the petition forms, ballot title, ballot question and ballot summary. The Hawaii County Clerk provides a sample petition form and works with the committee to craft the petition form, the ballot title, ballot question and the ballot summary early in the process. 3. Provides a deadline for council action, which guarantees that the ballot question of a qualifying initiative or referendum will be placed on the ballot. 4. Provides specific criteria to verify signatures. The voter's name, signature, and residence address or mailing address must be reasonably similar to the information contained on their voter's registration card or the general register of the County of Hawaii. 5. Petition circulators are not required to have their signatures notarized before turning in signed petitions, but are required to sign a statement that they had the proposed legislation available for petition signers and that the signer had signed in their presence. The petitions are required to state if circulators are paid or not paid. 6. Provides a section with definitions. 7. States that if the measure is approved by voters, the measure shall become law after the election is certified. The League of Women Voters favor the following additions to this legislation: 1. A dispute resolution panel will be formed early in the process with two people appointed by the Citizen's committee and two people chosen by the clerk. The four panelists will choose the fifth member. This way the panel can closely watch the process and is required to submit rulings on issues within fifteen days. The dispute resolution panel is a safety valve to make sure the process proceeds smoothly. 2. Legislation passed by Article XI- Initiative and Referendum shall not be overturned or amended within 3 years except by six votes of the Hawaii County Council. This legislation shall not be subject to veto by the Mayor. Questions? Call the League of Women Voters: Sue Dursin Co-president 328-8514 Marian Wilkins phone 325-6116 Debbie Hecht 989-3222