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<br /> <br />Ha,vaii State Association of Counties <br />Counties of Kaua'i, Maui, Hawai'i and City and County of Honolulu <br /> <br /> <br />URGING THE GOVERNOR, CHIEF ELECTION OFFICER, AND HAWAII STATE <br />LEGISLATURE TO PROVIDE APPROPRIATE LEVELS OF SERVICES FOR THE 2010 <br />ELECTIONS. <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Association of Counties IS composed of the <br />members of all four county councils of the State of Hawaii; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, candidate access to the ballot, the right to vote, and the associated <br />election services constitute a core governmental function that does not diminish with <br />each passing year; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, it has come to the county councils' attention that the State Office of <br />Elections (OE) is facing financial restrictions that may undermine its ability to provide <br />the same level of services as provided for in the 2008 Elections; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS,as a result of the imposed restrictions, the four county councils <br />foresee that reduced accessibility to election services traditionally provided by the State <br />OE may result in an increased demand for services provided by county election <br />operations, increasing county staff requirements and county budgets; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, in his report on proposed closings of certain precincts for the 2010 <br />election, the Chief Election Officer encouraged voters to seek absentee voting services <br />provided by the counties in lieu of election services provided by his office; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, between 1992 and 2008, the counties have witnessed a dramatic <br />increase in demand for county funded absentee voting services (from 11 % to 39% of <br />the total voting in general elections) without additional appropriation from the State; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, neighbor island counties are supporting State OE operations in <br />counting centers and performing State OE polling place operational and logistical <br />responsibilities despite having no State personnel assigned to their respective offices; <br />and . <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu administers the statewide .voter <br />registration system to comply with federal law on behalf of the State OE without <br />financial support from the State; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, as a further result of the imposed restrictions to the State OE, <br />reimbursements to the counties of Hawaii, Kauai and Maui for the 2008 Elections have <br />also not yet been paid; now, therefore <br /> <br /> <br />