Bill Text: HI HR234 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Constitutional Amendment; Candidacy Residency Requirement

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-21 - (H) Referred to JUD, LMG, FIN, referral sheet 43 [HR234 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2011-HR234-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	234
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the legislature to propose an amendment to Article III, Section 6, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii to require any candidate for state legislative office to be a resident of the district that the candidate will represent for at least one year immediately preceding the applicable general or special election or appointment to office.

 

 

WHEREAS, it is more likely that a candidate for elected office will understand the issues in a community and empathize with the people of the district being represented if the candidate actually resides in the district; and

 

WHEREAS, voters believe that elected officials are more concerned about the residents of the district when the official also resides in the district, in contrast to politicians who may own a home in the district, but do not actually live there, or have moved into the district strictly for the purpose of running for office; and

 

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court has held that the role of an elected official is to represent the views of the constituents and that an elected official must be familiar with the constituents and their needs; and

 

WHEREAS, requiring that any candidate for a state legislative office be a resident of the district that the candidate seeks to represent for at least one year immediately preceding the applicable general or special election or appointment to office would ensure that candidates are familiar with the issues in the district and that voters have a chance to familiarize themselves with the candidate; and

 

WHEREAS, a one–year residency requirement for candidates for state legislative office merely delays, not denies, the opportunity to run for office, thus placing a minimal burden on potential candidates while promoting the integrity of the election process and preventing opportunists from carpet-bagging; and

 

WHEREAS, it would validate the transparency and efficacy of the election process if:

 

     (1)  A candidate is required to submit three forms of proof of residency in the district, such as utility bills or proof of mail delivery to the candidate's residence;

 

     (2)  The election official who receives a candidate's nomination papers is required to make an initial determination that the candidate has submitted proof of residency in the district for at least one year immediately preceding the applicable general or special election or appointment;

 

     (3)  A would-be candidate who is aggrieved by an election official's determination and is in continuous compliance with the one-year residency requirement has the opportunity to petition the court for an expedited review of the determination after service of a certified copy of that determination; and

 

     (4)  A review by the court is confined to the administrative record, and the court, upon request by any party, hears oral arguments and receives written briefs without the opportunity for discovery, and the court affirms the determination or, if it finds that the determination is arbitrary and capricious, reverses or modifies the determination; now, therefore,

 

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-Sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the Legislature is requested to propose an amendment to article III, section 6 of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii to require any candidate for state legislative office to be a resident of the district that the candidate seeks to represent for at least one year immediately preceding the applicable general or special election or appointment to office; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature is requested to include in the constitutional amendment the requirement that in the year of the first general election following reapportionment, but prior to the primary election, an incumbent legislator may move to a new district without being disqualified from completing the remainder of the incumbent legislator's term; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature is requested to require that the question to be printed on the voter ballot proposing the amendment to the Constitution of the State of Hawaii shall be as follows:

 

"Shall the Constitution of the State of Hawaii be amended to require a candidate for the state legislature to be a resident of the district that the candidate is to represent for at least one year immediately preceding the general election, special election, or appointment and to prove residency as provided by law?"; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in addition to the constitutional amendment, the Legislature is requested to enact a law that any person who is a candidate for an elected county office that represents a specific county council district shall be a resident of the county council district from which the person seeks to be elected or appointed for at least one year immediately preceding the general or special election or appointment and to prove residency as provided by law; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Constitutional Amendment; Candidacy Residency Requirement