RES 170 Draft 01 2010-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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WHEREAS, Vote By Mail improves voter roll accuracy because ballots mailed to intended recipients who no longer receive mail at their registered address will not have their ballot forwarded. The ballot will be returned to the county office of elections where the office of elections can contact the voter or the voter rolls can then be purged of inaccurate mail listings; and WHEREAS, Vote By Mail improves uniformity because there is centralized supervision of ballot processing in the county office of elections, rather than in dispersed polling places. This maintains uniformity and strict compliance with law; and WHEREAS, Vote By Mail promotes voter confidence by providing a paper trail where the accuracy and fairness of election results are provable, and the ballots can be recounted, by hand if necessary, to prove to voters that each and every vote was properly counted; and WHEREAS, Vote By Mail may cost up to one -third less than polling place elections for the County of Hawai`i, due to the decrease in cost of training and employment of officials for 48 precincts; and WHEREAS, Vote By Mail increases voter participation in small local elections. Voter turnout increases when voters are provided with an easy and convenient way to vote; and WHEREAS, "Get Out the Vote" activities may be conducted several weeks prior to the election and voters are reminded to mail their ballot well ahead of the election deadline; and WHEREAS, Vote By Mail increases the likelihood of informed voting because voters perform research and think about their voting choices while sitting at home with their Voters' Pamphlet and any other information that they want to use to make reasoned decisions; now, therefore BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the Legislature of the State of Hawai`i is requested to create a pilot program for all federal, state, and county primary, general, and special elections based on the current State of Oregon Vote By Mail program as the exclusive method for casting ballots in the County of Hawai`i beginning with the 2014 Primary election and all other elections in the year 2014, all elections in 2016, and continuing through all elections including the General Election in 2018, if feasible, or as soon as 2