COM 0965.054 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Murashige, Laura From: blann [blann@verizon.net] Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:49 AM To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us Cc: Pilago, K. Angel; Isbell, Virginia; Hoffmann, Pete; Jacobson, Bob; Higa, Stacy; Ikeda, Donald; Safarik, Gary; Dixie Kaetsu Subject: Resolution 410-06 Declaring Save Our Lands Petition certified as sufficient as to numbers of valid signatures Aloha County Council, I am fully in favor of the very wise position of Chairman Higa in declaring that enough valid signatures (out of approximately 10,000 collected) have been submitted to qualify the issue of funding the open lands ordinance for the ballot. Mr. Higa, among other issues, has pointed out the cost of litigating the thousands of signatures rejected by the voter office. I would like to address the issue. First, the County should have clear guidlines and follow these. Neither is the case. One example of this: I called the Voter Office regarding the petition. m I gave p c the street I lived on a year ago , and asked if a resident must use C , the post-fix on the street sign, the one used by the post office, or by the Z, planning ca department. I was told that they accepted or rejected signatures based on the planning dept. designation. I asked what they used as valid for my former street, Kalamauka. I was told "road". But,l said, planning says that it is'street'. The Voter a Office person checked and confirmed that it is indeed street. They have been rejecting the correct designation (st.) following their own guidlines, and accepting what does not follow their guidlines (rd.). Clearly many addresses rejected as invalid have been rejected improperly and capricously. I can give other examples of capricious rejection, e.g. ambiguity as to whether the street number contained a "7" or a "1 even though the wife's address on the line above was clear. Americans do write ones and sevens similarly, which is why Europeans put a bar through their sevens. To use this as an excuse to invalidate a signature is capricous. The courts ruled in the 2000 Florida election that a ballot was valid if the clear intent of the voter was obvious. I am guessing that they would vote similarly on the issue of petitions in Hi. county; if the name and address given is clearly that of the registered voter, the signature probably would be declared to be valid. Street names in this county, in very many instances, are very informally set and adhered to, and ambiguous. If the county is to set arbitrary standards on street names for petitions, they should publish an official listing of every residential Comm. fa address on the island with the tse official designation; as we saw with Kalamauka the county did not follow Ref. To-it" their own Ref. Dvte .1111 1 9 2006 1