HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1104.006 2004-2006
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Murashige, Laura
From: Peter Hain [hainp004@hawaii.rr.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 4:32 PM
To: council testimony
Cc: cohmayor@co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: Resolution 474-06
I am in complete agreement with the sentiments of Marshal Blann:
Aloha County Council,
One of the things the USA prides itself on is the concept of the
free
and fair election . I was therefore very unhappy to find that Hawaii
County has the elections office with 12 full time Mall employees in a
$103,000/annum
high visibility retail location with stated purpose of registering
voters
and increasing
absentee voting in Hilo, but with similar programs nowhere else in
the
county.
Our tax dollars are being used solely to enhance the voting power of
Hilo
vs. the
rest of the county, rather than as part of a county wide voter
enhancement
program.
I estimate the salaries and overhead at around $1,000,000/ annum.
If in the future, a Council person from Hilo were to run for Mayor,
the
question
could be raised as to whether he engineered this voter registration
program for personal
benefit. Let us not put the County Government in the awkward position
of
anyone raising
such questions.
We do note that in the primary election just passed, the Kuhio
location
had seven
times the absentee vote of the average of the other 4 polls; a 600%
increase! Clearly
this is not a fair election, and renewal of this lease will make
results
even more uneven,
possibly subjecting the county government to complaints to t,e~UU
Comm. No.
Ref. Tot 1 g 2006
10/16/2006 Ref. Date
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Dept.
Justice under the
2002 Help America Vote Act, and or the state Ethics Commission.
I therefore request that the Council consider one of two options. The
Kuhio Mall space
has 12 full time employees, occupies 5,000 sq. ft., and is open 40
hours
/week, except
during absentee voting when it opens 48 hours (equaled nowhere else
in
the county).
I propose amending the Resolution to include 100 sq. ft. kiosks (10
foot
square) in Kona
at Costco,Walmart, Lanihou center, and Keauhou Plaza, to be staffed
by
temporary
employees or volunteers provided by the County, 40 hours / week, 48
hours/
week
during walk-in voting. Other districts should be consulted as to what
they
feel would
help level the playing field to give a more nearly fair election, and
these requests should be
included in the amended resolution. It is not clear to me why Council
is
in such a rush to
pass this resolution, which could lead to serious embarrassment to
the
County. It will, in
present form, surely increase the deep cynicism with which many of
our
citizens view
the electoral process in our county- perhaps one reason for record
low
voter turnouts.
Should the argument be made that the amendments I suggest would be
too
costly, even
though the cost would be but a fraction of the Kuhio Mall Project
expenses, I would
offer a second option which would save the county money. Move the
Elections Office
to lower cost office space not in a commercial retail center, and
comparable to other
absentee locations. During absentee voting, as on election day, let
all
10/16/2006
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polls be open the
same hours. In this way, treat all citizens equally in access to
voting-
as is required under federal law.
Lets put an end to this ridiculous situation.
Thank you for your consideration.
Peter Hain
73-1066A Ahikawa St.
Kailua Kona, HI
10/16/2006