Bill Text: HI SB217 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Arrangement Of Candidate Names On Ballots.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-01-22 - Referred to JDC. [SB217 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2019-SB217-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
217 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to Arrangement of Candidate Names on Ballots.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION
1. The legislature finds that numerous
studies have shown that the election candidate who is listed first on a ballot
has an advantage. See, Daniel E.
Ho & Kosuke Imai, Estimating Causal
Effects of Ballot Order From a Randomized Natural Experiment, The California
Alphabet Lottery, 1978-2002, 72
Pub. Op. Q. 216 (2008); Laura Miller, Election
by Lottery: Ballot Order, Equal
Protection, and the Irrational Voter, 13 N.Y.U. J. Legis. & Pub. Pol'y
373 (2010). The legislature also finds
that several states, such as California and Ohio, arrange the candidates' names
to be random across ballots so that each possible order permutation appears an
equal number of times. This allows each
candidate to be represented fairly and equally on the ballots.
Currently, on the Hawaii ballot candidates for a specific office are listed in alphabetical order starting with the letter "A" and the ballots are identical across precincts for that office.
The purpose of this Act is to require the randomization of names of candidates listed on individual ballots and on ballots across precincts, thereby making the advantage of being the first candidate listed on a ballot a random event.
SECTION 2. Section 11-115, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) The names of the candidates shall be placed
upon the ballot for their respective offices in [alphabetical] random
order so that the names are randomized on individual ballots and also
randomly rotated from one precinct to another except:
(1) As provided in section 11-118;
(2) [For] Subject to the limitations
of the voting system in use; provided that the chief election officer shall
not enter into or extend any contract regarding ballots with a vendor who is
unable to implement the random ballot requirement; and
(3) [For] In the case of the
candidates for vice president and lieutenant governor in the general election [whose],
the names of those candidates shall be placed immediately below the
name of the candidate for president or governor of the same political party."
SECTION 3. The chief election officer is directed to establish procedures to implement the purpose of this Act, which shall apply to the election cycle beginning on January 1, 2020.
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2019.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Elections; Ballot; Arrangement of Names
Description:
Requires candidate names to be randomized on individual ballots and across precincts.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
