Kahalekai v. Doi

• Decision Date: 01 February 1979
• Docket Number: Nos. 7216,7218,THIRTY-FOUR,s. 7216
• Citation: 60 Haw. 324,590 P.2d 543
• Parties: Miriam KAHALEKAI et al., Plaintiffs, v. Nelson DOI, Lieutenant Governor, State of Hawaii, et al., Defendants.VOTERS OF the COUNTY OF MAUI, Plaintiffs, v. Nelson DOI, Lieutenant Governor, State of Hawaii, et al., Defendants.
• Court: Hawaii Supreme Court

Page 543

590 P.2d 543

60 Haw. 324

Miriam KAHALEKAI et al., Plaintiffs, v. Nelson DOI, Lieutenant Governor, State of Hawaii, et al.,

Defendants.

THIRTY-FOUR VOTERS OF the COUNTY OF MAUI, Plaintiffs, v. Nelson DOI, Lieutenant Governor, State of Hawaii, et al., Defendants.

Nos. 7216, 7218.

Supreme Court of Hawai'i.

Feb. 1, 1979.

Syllabus by the Court

1. The supreme court is vested with jurisdiction to ascertain and to determine the validity of the manner of submission and the ratification of changes in the state constitution.

2. Constitutional amendments ratified by the electorate are presumed to be valid and the amendments as adopted will be upheld unless they can be shown to be invalid beyond a reasonable doubt.

3. The party challenging the results of the election bears the burden of showing, beyond a reasonable doubt, the invalidity of a constitutional amendment which the people have adopted at a general election.

4. Where the ballot used in a constitutional ratification election is in a form which produces a knowing and deliberate expression of voter choice, the vote satisfies the requirement of electoral approval.

5. A ballot is not defective merely because it is mechanically easier for the voter to vote for rather than against any given proposition, so long as the ballot language is not misleading or deceptive.

6. A determination of what inducements motivated voters in the adoption of a proposed amendment is outside the scope of any judicial examination where the language and meaning of a constitutional amendment are clear and the ballot is neither misleading nor deceptive.

7. An amendment proposed by a constitutional convention may embrace more than one subject or purpose where the constitution authorizes the convention, in its discretion, to provide for the manner of its submission.

8. The authority of a constitutional convention to determine the manner in which proposed amendments are to be submitted to the vote of the electorate is subject only to the limitation that the ballot must enable the voters to express their choice on the amendments presented and be in a form and language which will not mislead or deceive the voter.

9. Where there is no express publication requirement in the constitution, a constitutional convention is nevertheless under a duty to adequately inform the electorate of the contents and effect of the proposed amendments.

10. The electorate bears a corresponding burden of educating and familiarizing themselves with the contents and effect of the amendments prior to going to the polls to cast their ballots.

11. Where the information disseminated to the public is neither deceptive nor misleading, and the public is given sufficient time within which to familiarize themselves with the contents and effect of the proposed amendments, they will be presumed to have cast informed ballots.

12. Where the electorate is not sufficiently informed of the substantive nature and effect of a proposed amendment, such amendment will be deemed to have failed of ratification.

13. Failure by the convention to inform the public specifically and in detail of the stylistic and purely technical changes, embodied in a proposed amendment, will not prevent ratification of the proposal, so long as these changes do not alter the sense, meaning or effect of constitutional provisions.

14. The power to determine whether and to what extent the organic law is to be amended or revised is reserved to the people by the constitution.

Steven B. Songstad, Kahului, for plaintiffs.

James T. Funaki, Honolulu, for defendants William Paty and Karen Iwamoto.

Maria L. Sousa, Deputy Atty. Gen., Honolulu, for defendant Lieutenant Governor Doi.

Daral G. Conklin and Melvin M. M. Masuda, Honolulu, for Hawaii State Bar Association, amicus curiae.

Before RICHARDSON, C. J., OGATA, MENOR and KIDWELL, JJ., and KOBAYASHI, Retired Justice, for the vacancy.

MENOR, Justice.

This is an original action seeking to invalidate the results of the November 7, 1978 general election dealing with amendments to the State Constitution presented to the electorate for its approval by the 1978 Constitutional Convention. ^{1 1} The lieutenant governor's Computer-Final Report on the results of the election shows that all of the proposed amendments passed by the necessary constitutional margin. ² At issue, however, is whether the proposed amendments were submitted to the voters in the form and manner required by law.

Following its deliberations, the Convention adopted as the definitive expression of its conclusions a document entitled, "The Constitution of the State of Hawaii With the Amendments Proposed by the Constitutional Convention of 1978." This document was referred to the Convention Committee on Submission and Information. That committee proposed a form of resolution, which was adopted by the Convention (Resolution No. 30), in which it was provided that the proposed amendments be submitted for ratification at the November 7, 1978 general election, in the form of the ballot attached to the resolution. The attachments to the resolution consisted of the texts of the punch-card ballot and the informational booklet which were subsequently used in the general election.

The punch-card ballot listed 34 proposed amendments by short title. The ballot was divided into Parts A and B. Part A provided for a blanket "yes" or "no" vote on all proposed amendments. Part B provided for a "no" vote on each of the 34 proposed amendments, the listing of which was preceded by a caption: "I VOTE YES ON EACH OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS AS LISTED BELOW EXCEPT THAT I VOTE NO ON THE FOLLOWING:." Neither the effect of the proposed amendments nor the numbers of the amended articles and sections were set forth in the punch-card ballot. However, the ballot contained, preceding Parts A & B, the following:

"Please read instructions and information in the booklet Which is part of this ballot. The full test of the proposed amendments on the ballot number 1-34 inclusive, is available for inspection in your voting unit." (Emphasis added)

The informational booklet attached to the resolution set forth, under the same numbers and short titles used in the punch-card ballot, brief descriptive material under the words "If adopted, this amendment provides:." With the exception of proposed amendments 24, 25 and 34, article and section numbers were set forth in parenthesis after each short title. For example, the descriptive material with respect to the first proposed amendment was headed:

1. 12 MEMBER JURY: CIVIL; CASE AMOUNT (Article I, Section 13 and 14)

The forms of the ballot and informational booklet, as printed and used in the election, ³ conformed to those attached to the resolution, except that article and section numbers were added, in the informational booklet, after the short titles of proposed amendments 24 and 25. No article or section numbers appeared beside the short title of proposed amendment 34, in either instance.

Copies of the full text of the revised Constitution were distributed to state and municipal officers, including all county clerks, on September 21, 1978. They were also distributed to the main and branch libraries of the state library system at least two weeks before the election. The availability of the library copies for examination could have been ascertained by a phone call to the Convention office at a phone number made generally known by newspaper advertisements. No information was distributed to the general public with respect to the availability of the text of the revised Constitution at public libraries; however, a "Con-Con Summary" mailed by the Convention to the household of every registered voter in the State did advise voters that they could obtain exact wording of the amendments from the voter information center located at Convention headquarters in Honolulu.

Having completed its work on the proposed amendments, the Convention recessed on September 21, 1978. Between that date and the November 7, 1978 general election, the Convention, through its Committee on Submission and Information, implemented its plan for the education of the electorate concerning the proposed amendments.

It mailed to the household of every registered voter in the State a "Con-Con Summary" containing a digest of the proposed amendments. On October 29, 1978, it caused to be published an advertising supplement to the Sunday Star-Bulletin and Advertiser, as well as to the Hawaii Tribune Herald, the Maui News, and the Garden Island. Each of the sections of the revised Constitution which was identified by article and section number in the informational booklet used in the election was printed in full text in this supplement. Other amendments adopted by the Convention and reflected in the revised Constitution which was referred to the Committee on Submission and Information were not printed in the newspaper supplement. This supplement was followed by the publication of the summaries of proposed amendments 1-10 on October 30, 1978, summaries of proposed amendments 11-21 on November 1, 1978, and summaries of proposed amendments 22-34 on November 2, 1978. These summaries were published in the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, both of which are newspapers of general circulation within the State. These summaries were combined and republished in these newspapers on November 5, 1978, as a two-page advertisement. This combined summary was also distributed to the Sun Press on Oahu, the Maui News, the Hawaii Tribune Herald, and the Garden Island for dissemination to their readers. These summaries contained relevant information on some of the amendments which were not reflected in the informational booklet or in the supplement.

Additionally, the Convention during this period provided for the publication of newspaper advertisements and of radio and television announcements referring interested persons to the Convention information center and...