HELP STOP UNFAIR ELECTION PRACTICES

HELP STOP UNFAIR ELECTION PRACTICES IN HAWAII COUNTY

>YOUR REACTION TO THIS IS IMPORTANT_ PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR MAILING LISTS!
>
>Urgent action is needed to mitigate elections practices which could
>guarantee Hilo the mayor's office and council control by manipulation
>of voter registration and walk-in voting. Please read the appropriate
>sections below.
>
>I. Synopsis: the problem outlined (if you know this, skip to II.)
>
>II. Proposed action by county council for 16 Oct. meeting in Hilo and
>possible consequences for elections
>
>III. Suggested actions citizens might take
>
>I. The problem
> Around 4 months ago, the Council quietly authorized the Elections
>Office to lease 5,000 sq. ft. of space at Kuhio Mall for $8600/month.
>With 12 full time employees, salaries
>+overheads likely are around
>$ 1 million/annum, plus the 103,000 for the lease. Why? Quoting from
>the authorizing resolution,
> "Whereas, the temporary move of the Election Division to Prince Kuhio
>Plaza could increase voter registration and absentee voter turnout due
>to its high visibility, convenient public location and a high volume of
>foot traffic;..."
> Indeed it is estimated that one of each four Hilo residents passes
>through the mall each day. The location is a corner store, with a 50
>foot row of display windows on each of 2 main mall aisles, festooned
>with flags and 'WIKI-WIKI VOTER REGISTRATION' signs. It looks
>professionally done. It blew me away when I actually saw it, and others
>who have seen it have had a similar reaction.
> Voter registration is a fine thing, but when we spend 1 million/annum
>of tax funds to register voters in Hilo, and have no program anywhere
>else in the county, the election playing field is not fair. But it gets
>still worse!
>During the walk in polling, the Mall location was open 48 hours each
>week, including 8 hours on Saturdays; NO OTHER WALK IN POLL WAS OPEN
>SATURDAYS. Some were open only 25 hours/ week, closed not only
>Saturdays, but lunch hours as well- the best times for working people
>to vote. Remember that only 43% of voters islanwide voted in the last
>primary- so a concerted effort might potentially double the vote in a
>targeted area.The mall must have a few hundred acres of free parking;
>our location usually has none available- and no foot traffic.
> What are the actual numbers? For this past primary, there were 5
>walk-in (i.e. 'absentee' polling places)
>
>Location Votes cast
>Pahala 159
>Kohala 357
>Waimea 975
>Kona 1506
>Kuhio Mall 5192
>
>II Proposed council action for Oct 16 meeting in Hilo
>
> We can see from the numbers above and from analyses of the complete
>returns, that Hilo, with illegally low citizen number districts ( as
>determined by the Hawaii Supreme Court in CERG vs. Hawaii County) gets
>a huge boost in voter turnout from this huge, expensive recruitment
>effort, with no comparable effort anywhere else in the county. There is
>now a resolution for vote on Oct. 16 to EXTEND the Kuhio lease for
>another year (after which it would likely be extended again) to further
>increase the voting power of Hilo. Clearly this makes a mockery of fair
>elections, but let us consider the consequences.
>
>1) There will likely be enough votes cast in Hilo to elect the next
>mayor (rumored to be Mr. Higa). The
> next mayor will appoint the reapportionment and charter
>commissions. So we may expect again to
> have Gerrymandered, illegally small Hilo districts, only the
>charter amendments Hilo wishes.
>
>2) either from the charter commission, or earlier from the council, my
>guess is that a 'one island ' charter
> amendment will be issued (don't trust labels )- to return to an
>earlier plan of e.g. 6 council district
> seats and 3 'at large' seats to show that we are a single county.
>Karl Rove would be proud! They will have the
> electoral vote to pass this. And when we get our ballots, and are
>asked to vote for 3 of 16 candidates
> 'at large', we will discover that Hilo has the votes to elect all
>3, since the 3 highest totals will win. And so,
> this lovely lease at Kuhio Mall could ensure more decades of Hilo
>colonial rule, even after an honest vote
> might produce a neutral and fair county government.
>
>The upcoming vote, being pushed through before a new council can be
>seated (with huge boost from Ms. Isbell), may be seen to have
>importance to West Hawaii beyond just being another appropriations
>bill; it is a stealth bill to ensure future political control for Hilo.
>
>III. What can we do?
>
> If we are not content with being ruled as a colony of Hilo, my best
>guess is that we should first immediately email our council members
>protesting this action. I shall separately forward two letters
>suggesting choices to reduce the disparity. If you care, please show up
>at the W.Hi. mayor's office to testify on 16 Oct., or email testimony
>to counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us.
> If the council does not take strong corrective action- our usual
>'more of the same'- I urge that you send an email to the state ethics
>commission, ethics@hawaiiethics.org ,with a copy to
>elections@aloha.net , and send an email
>to Gov. Lingle, http://www.hawaii.gov/gov/contact/email .
> Copy your ethics commission testimony to joshuaboothgreen@yahoo.com
>and senwhalen@capitol.hawaii.gov .
>And please send this to those on your mailing list who might respond. I
>have a feeling of facing down a steamroller, but we must at least try.
>Many thanks for your help on this- it is for all of us-regards,Marshall
>
>p.s. I shall also forward drafts of a letter to the ethics commission.
>And most importantly- the general election vote result in D7 will
>decide if the new council will be organized by Hilo with Mr. Higa as
>chair (should Ms. Isbell win) or in a neutral mode (should Ms. Ford
>win).