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COUNTY OF HAWAII <br />STATE OF HAWAII <br />RESOLUTION NO. 170 11 <br />A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII <br />TO ENACT A BILL TO ESTABLISH A PILOT PROGRAM FOR VOTE BY MAIL FOR <br />ALL FEDERAL, STATE, AND COUNTY PRIMARY, GENERAL, AND SPECIAL <br />ELECTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF HAWAII, AND TO MAKE AN APPROPRIATION <br />FOR THIS PILOT PROGRAM. <br />WHEREAS, in Hawai`i County, the percentage of registered voters participating in the <br />Primary Election dropped from a high of 73.4% in 1990 to 39.5% in 2010, and the percentage of <br />registered voters participating in the General Election dropped from a high of 84.7% in 1992 to <br />53.3% in 2010; and <br />WHEREAS, the number of absentee ballots, which are a combination of mail -in and <br />walk -in ballots, cast in Hawai`i County Primary Elections, have increased from 9.8% of the total <br />vote in 1988 to 40.8% in 2010. The number of absentee ballots cast in Hawai`i County General <br />Elections have increased from 9.3% of the total vote in 1988 to 37.4% in 2010; and <br />WHEREAS, Oregon has had Vote By Mail elections since 1998. The 2004 Oregon <br />election was one of the most contentious and closely scrutinized elections in Oregon history, and <br />proved to be efficient and voter friendly. That year, Oregon had the third highest voter turnout in <br />the nation at 86.48% of registered voters. Of the five states with the highest voter turnout in <br />2004, Oregon was the only state without same -day voter registration. In 2008, Oregon achieved <br />85.7% voter turnout; and <br />WHEREAS, Vote By Mail is convenient. When this pilot program is implemented, <br />voters will not have to stand in lines at the polls, take time off from work, drive in bad weather to <br />precincts, or wait for their turn at a limited number of polling booths, and an illness or personal <br />emergency on Election Day will not keep them from voting; and <br />WHEREAS, voter fraud can be protected against by utilizing a Vote By Mail program <br />similar to the one used in Oregon, where every voter signature is verified to ensure that the voter <br />is who they claim to be; and <br />