Kim v. State Office of Elections

• Decision Date: 29 August 2022
• Docket Number: SCEC-22-0000508
• Parties: RICHARD Y. KIM, Plaintiff, v. STATE OF HAWAI'I OFFICE OF ELECTIONS; and SCOTT T. NAGO, Chief Election Officer, Defendants.
• Court: Supreme Court of Hawai'i

RICHARD Y. KIM, Plaintiff,
v.
STATE OF HAWAI'I OFFICE OF ELECTIONS; and SCOTT T. NAGO, Chief Election Officer, Defendants.

No. SCEC-22-0000508

Supreme Court of Hawaii

August 29, 2022

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING

By: Recktenwald, C.J., Nakayama, McKenna, Wilson, and Eddins, JJ.

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND JUDGMENT

On August 23, 2022, Plaintiff Richard Y. Kim (Kim) submitted a document entitled "Election Objection" (complaint), which was filed as an election contest complaint. On August 26, 2022, Defendants State of Hawai'i Office of Elections (Office of Elections) and Scott T. Nago, Chief Election Officer (Chief Election Officer) (collectively, Defendants) filed a motion to dismiss Kim's complaint or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. Upon consideration of the complaint, the documents attached and submitted in support, and motion to dismiss or for summary judgment, and having heard this matter without oral argument, we enter the following findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgment.

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FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Kim was one of seven Democratic Party candidates for the Office of Governor in the 2022 General Election.

2. The Primary Election was held on August 13, 2022.

3. As provided by the complaint, the result of this primary election race was, as follows:

Green, Josh 157,476 (60.6%)

Cayetano, Vicky 52,237 (20.1%)

Kahele, Kai 37,540 (14.4%)

Tanabe, Van 1,232 (0.5%)

Kim, Richard 985 (0.4%)

Bourgoin, David L. (Duke) 589 (0.2%)

Lewman, Clyde McClain (Mac) 246 (0.1%)

Blank votes 3,673 (1.4%)

Over votes 342 (0.1%)

4. On August 23, 2022, Kim filed a complaint asserting "a due process violation of Hawai'i Administrative Rules [(HAR)] § 3-177-704" because the Office of Elections did not provide proper advanced notice to the public and interested persons to observe and inspect the voting process, including the testing of the voting machines.

5. Kim also asserts:

a. A visual inspection of the ballots is necessary due to possible "rigg[ing]" of the vote count because he received 985 votes, or 0.4% of the democratic votes, which is less than his total received in 2018

b. Seemingly related to his vote count rigging assertion, a conflict of interest exists between himself and the Chief Election Officer due to his 2018 complaint filed in Civil No 18-1-0878-06 GWBC; and

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c. Vote counting by the computer must have been compromised by (a) moving a decimal such that he received only 1% of the actual votes he received on the ballots or (b) improperly transferring 99% of his votes to Lieutenant Governor Josh Green (Green).

6. Kim appears to assert he "should have been the winner" if such compromised vote counting occurred, or at least be deemed to have more votes than the 985 he received during the 2022 Primary Election. According to Kim, he "should have received 985[,]000 votes, 38.7% of the democratic votes, 23.2% for Josh Green, respectively." In support, he points to the following evidence:

a. His campaign website attracted 8,967 people, with over 32,000 views on his 706 posts since 2017.

b.

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