Burdick v. Takushi, 13157
| Decision Date | 21 July 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 13157,13157 |
| Citation | 70 Haw. 498,776 P.2d 824 |
| Parties | Alan B. BURDICK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Morris TAKUSHI, Director of Elections, State of Hawaii, John Waihee, Lieutenant Governor, State of Hawaii, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | Hawaii Supreme Court |
Mary Blaine Johnston, Wailuku, Maui, for plaintiff-appellant.
Steven S. Michaels, Dept. of the Atty. Gen., (Charlene M. Aina, with him, on the brief), Deputies Atty., Honolulu, for defendants-appellees.
Before LUM, C.J., and NAKAMURA, PADGETT, HAYASHI and WAKATSUKI, JJ.
Three questions have been certified to us by the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii. The questions and our answers are as follows.
(1) Does the Constitution of the State of Hawaii require Hawaii's election officials to permit the casting of write-in votes and require Hawaii's election officials to count and publish write-in votes?
Answer. No.
(2) Do Hawaii's election laws require Hawaii's election officials to permit the casting of write-in votes and require Hawaii's election officials to count and publish write-in votes?
Answer. No.
(3) Do Hawaii's election laws permit, but not require, Hawaii's election officials to allow voters to cast write-in votes, and to count and publish write-in votes?
Answer. No.
HRS § 16-1 provides:
The chief election officer may adopt, experiment with, or abandon any voting system authorized under this chapter or to be authorized by the legislature. These systems shall include, but not be limited to voting machines, paper ballots, and electronic voting systems. All voting systems approved by the chief election officer under this chapter are authorized for use in all elections for voting, registering, and counting votes cast at the election.
Voting systems of different kinds may, at the discretion of the chief election officer, be adopted for different precincts within the same district. The chief election officer may provide for the experimental use at any election, in one or more precincts, of a voting system without a formal adoption thereof and its use at the election shall be as valid for all purposes as if it had been permanently adopted; provided that if a voting machine is used experimentally under this paragraph it need not meet the requirements of section 16-12.
HRS 16-22 provides:
The method of marking a paper ballot shall be prescribed by the chief election officer by rules and regulations promulgated in accordance with chapter 91. The chief election officer shall prescribe a uniform method of marking the ballots in all precincts in a county and for absentee voting by paper ballot.
These provisions seemingly might permit the chief elections officer to allow write-in votes pursuant to regulations, or on an experimental basis if such voting did not conflict with other statutes, but our review of the present election statutes leads us to the conclusion that such a conflict exists.
With respect to general and special general elections, HRS §...
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Burdick v. Takushi
...Hawaii's election laws barred write-in voting and that these measures were consistent with the State's Constitution. Burdick v. Takushi, 70 Haw. 498, 776 P.2d 824 (1989). The United States District Court then granted petitioner's renewed motion for summary judgment and injunctive relief, bu......
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Burdick v. Takushi, Civ. No. 86-0582 HMF
...precluded write-in balloting and found this ban on write-in voting permissible under the Hawaii state constitution. Burdick v. Takushi, 70 Haw. 498, 776 P.2d 824 (1989). Now that the Hawaii Supreme Court has found that Hawaii's statutory election scheme prohibits write-in voting, the federa......
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Burdick v. Takushi
...and to count and publish write-in votes? On July 21, 1989, the Hawaii Supreme Court answered no to each question. Burdick v. Takushi, 70 Haw. 498, 776 P.2d 824, 825 (1989). With a definitive ruling from the Hawaii Supreme Court that Hawaii's election laws prohibited write-in voting, Burdick......
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Burdick v. Takushi, s. 90-15873
...and to count and publish write-in votes? On July 21, 1989, the Hawaii Supreme Court answered no to each question. Burdick v. Takushi, 70 Haw. 498, 776 P.2d 824, 825 (1989). With a definitive ruling from the Hawaii Supreme Court that Hawaii's election laws prohibited write-in voting, Burdick......
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Structuring judicial review of electoral mechanics: explanations and opportunities.
...the fact that the Hawaii Supreme Court had already heard and rejected such challenges. See id. at 431-32 (discussing Burdick v. Takushi, 776 P.2d 824, 825 (Haw. 1989)). A third possibility is that the Court was silently redefining minor-party and independent candidates' right of ballot acce......