August 2008 Home   Newsletters

March 2009

September 2009

President's Message for Spring
Come to the Biennial Convention May 30!
Public Funding of Election Campaigns (Kory Payne)
Bills Relating to Health Care (Joy Marshall & Suzanne Meisenzahl)
Election Day Registration (Jean Aoki)
Housing (Jackie Parnell)
Major Challenges for 2010 Elections (Jean Aoki)
Civil Unions (Jean Aoki)
My Favorite Testimony
Proposed Budget June 1, 2009 - May 31, 2010 (Susan Miller)
Voting Rights, Incarcerated Persons (Jean Aoki)
Withrdawals and Nominations (Jean Aoki)
Corporate Donations (Jean Aoki)
Mahalo to All the Contributors to Our Big Non-Event!
Campaign to Stop Legalized Gambling Successful (Grace Furukawa & Pearl Johnson)
Local Legue Reports - Honolulu (Piilani Kaopuiki)
Local League Reports - Hawaii (Leilani Bronson-Crelly & Susan Dursin)
Local League Reports - Kauai

Election Day Registration

SB 654 Relating to Voting (This is the Election Day Registration (EDR) bill axed by the finance committees last year).

Registration for elections ends 30 days before an election to allow for the preparation of the poll book. Some see this as a barrier to voter registration. Many citizens do not get engaged in candidate selection or ballot issues until close to elections when advertisements, debates, public discourse and social chatter pique their interests.

Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action is a non-partisan public policy research organization It champions EDR and states, “EDR increases the opportunity to cast a vote and participate in American Democracy”. The Network:

Did a survey in six EDR states (Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming) in 2007 which found great support among elections officials. Fewer than half of surveyed officials found that administering registrations at the polls can complicate Election Day operations; most of those were quick to add that these challenges are more than outweighed by the benefit to voters, according to a brochure. Montana adopted EDR in 2006. Since then, Iowa and North Carolina have also adopted EDR.

17 states are currently considering bills enacting EDR, including Hawaii.

Facts to Consider

  • More than 787,000 votes were cast by individuals who registered on Election Day in 2006 in the six EDR states for which data is available.
  • Voter turnout in the seven states that offered EDR in the 2006 election was on average nearly 10% higher than in states without EDR.
  • Five EDR states made the list of top 10 voter turnout states in 2006.

Action Needed

Call or e-mail your representative and the chair of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu (ph. 586-8490. e-mail repkaramatsu@capitol.hawaii.gov) to support SB 654.

Jean Aoki

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