Bill Text: HI HB1574 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Right to Vote
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-05-11 - Carried over to 2010 Regular Session. [HB1574 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2010-HB1574-Introduced.html
Report Title:
Right to Vote
Description:
Proposes constitutional amendment to repeal the one-year residency and voter registration requirement for voting; establishes a constitutional right to vote for citizens of Hawaii eighteen years old and over.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1574 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE II, SECTION 1, OF THE HAWAII CONSTITUTION, TO DELETE THE one-year RESIDENCY and voter registration REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING AND TO FORTIFY THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the citizens of the State of Hawaii do not have a constitutional right to vote. The Constitution of the State of Hawaii allows a citizen to vote if the person is a "voter registered as provided by law" and has been a "resident of this State not less than one year next preceding the election." In Hawaii and other states and on the federal level, voting is a privilege granted to citizens at the discretion of the government through the enactment of laws.
The legislature further finds that citizens have an inherent right to vote as part of their responsibility as citizens of the State, and that this right should not be hindered without just cause. The right to vote is necessary to effectuate the rule of one person, one vote, and to enable citizens to govern through the representative form of government. The legislature, therefore, believes that a constitutional right to vote should be established, that barriers to the exercise of this rights should be removed, and that government should encourage citizens to exercise this right.
The purpose of this Act is to propose a constitutional amendment to provide for the right to vote for citizens of the State by repealing the one-year residency and voter registration requirement for voting.
SECTION 2. Article 2, section 1, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
"ARTICLE II
SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS QUALIFICATIONS
Section 1. Every citizen of the United
States who shall have attained the age of eighteen years[, have been] and
is a resident of this State [not less than one year next preceding the
election and be a voter registered as provided by law], shall be qualified
to vote in any state or local election. This right shall not be denied or
abridged by the State of Hawaii or any county, except insofar as to safeguard
the integrity of elections as provided by law."
SECTION 3. The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:
"Shall every citizen of the State of Hawaii who has attained the age of eighteen years have a constitutional right to vote?"
SECTION 4. Constitutional material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New constitutional material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This amendment shall take effect upon compliance with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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