2000-05-31 Charter Commission Minutes

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minutes 05-31-00Page 23 of 54 YUEN: No, I think they say a majority. I don’t think they say 50% plus one. I think they say a majority. I could double check that, but I don’t think that is anything that somebody could disagree with. RAY: Steve. BESS: Yes, I’m trying to simplify this for all the voters here. I’m wondering whether or not it’s necessary to use ‘special elections’, and I’m wondering whether or not we could provide for these elective officers to be elected on non-partisan primary and general elections and, just to keep it consistent and less confusing so that you’d have a primary County election and then the second would be a general County election. YUEN: The reason I use the term ‘first special election’ and ‘second special election’ is, again, a look back at the State Law that talks about elections. A Primary Election is defined as a nominating election. A Special Election is defined in State Law as any election which is not preceded by a Primary to nominate candidates. And then the City and County of Honolulu went to this terminology of ‘first special election’ and ‘second special election’ for, I think, the same reason. I didn’t ask them why. BESS: I understand. And you don’t think by putting in a primary County election would clarify that? YUEN: If we said it that way, the election would go forward and people would understand what to do. I think the Election people would understand what to do and what we meant by doing that. Just looking at it from a technical legal point of view, I think that it does conflict with the way the State Law is set up. I know what you’re saying and it bothers me too. It sounds wrong. The Special Election doesn’t quite sound right, I think. BESS: It’s not a Special Election. YUEN: But again, the State Law defines a special election. Maybe the ordinary person thinks of a special election as an election that’s not normally held, and this is an election that we’re normally holding. BESS: Well, it’s nice to know that all of our elections will be special. YUEN: Yes. I’m not happy with doing it this way myself but, I think, because that’s the way that State Law says that’s what a special election is, is why I call it a special election. Go ahead. IRVINE: Chris, the way we’re doing it, we really wouldn’t even have a primary and a general if, in the first special election, one person won 50% plus one vote. So, it would really be wrong to call it a primary. BESS: No, but what I’m trying to do is is that these elections take place at the time of a primary and general election when you’re voting on the President of the United States. IRVINE: Correct. BESS: That kind of thing. IRVINE: But it would be your last chance to vote on these people and to call it a primary, unless you were going to go along with the amendment that you didn’t go along with that I tried to make last meeting, it’s just not a primary election. And having worked elections a lot, a special election is just the word they use. It’s like Special Counsel that I thought was funny. It’s just the term the State uses. RAY: Okay. John. SANTANGELO: Just to argue the point. RAY: We’ve got nothing but time. SANTANGELO: In our present elections where we have a primary and a general, you have people that win in the primary and then aren’t even put on the ballot in the general. And it’s called a primary. But I don’t have a problem with that. file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 05-31-00.html7/1/2011