Bill Text: HI HB2289 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating To Election Integrity.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-26 - Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 3 [HB2289 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2024-HB2289-Introduced.html

---

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2289
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO ELECTION INTEGRITY.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature recognizes that in recent years, several attempts have been made to overturn election results.  Accordingly, the legislature finds that the State must take action to ensure that election results are accurate and beyond challenge.

     The legislature also finds that state election law currently punishes election-related bribery through money, but does not address election-related bribery through other forms of valuable consideration, including gifts and loans.

     The purpose of this Act is to enhance election integrity by:

     (1)  Imposing new security requirements for voting systems;

     (2)  Deeming as election fraud certain acts relating to:

          (A)  The provision of valuable consideration, including gifts and loans, for the purpose of bribery;

          (B)  Election tampering; and

          (C)  Security breaches; and

     (3)  Appropriating moneys for video security surveillance recording equipment for the state's voting system.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding three new sections to part X to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§11-     Security; access revocation.  The chief election officer or clerk, as applicable, shall immediately revoke any access rights of any person guilty of an election fraud under section 19-3(14).

     §11-     Voting system; key card access system.  The chief election officer shall keep all components of a voting system in a location where entry is controlled by use of a key card access system and shall ensure that the log created by the system is maintained as an election record for no less than twenty-five months following the date of any entry; provided that this section shall not apply when voting system components are deployed for use or stored at voter service centers, places of deposit, or polling places.

     §11-     Voting system; video security surveillance recording.  (a)  The chief election officer shall:

     (1)  Record all components of a voting system using video security surveillance;

     (2)  Ensure that video captured beginning sixty days before through thirty days after an election is maintained as an election record for no less than twenty-five months following the election; and

     (3)  Ensure that video captured outside of the period described in paragraph (2) is maintained for no less than twenty-five months following the date the video was captured;

provided that this subsection shall not apply when voting system components are deployed for use or stored at voter service centers, places of deposit, or polling places.

     (b)  For the purposes of this section, "video security surveillance recording" means video monitoring by a device that continuously records a designated location or a system using motion detection that records no less than one frame per minute until detection of motion triggers continuous recording."

     SECTION 3.  Section 19-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§19-3  Election frauds.  The following persons shall be deemed guilty of an election fraud:

     (1)  Every person who, directly or indirectly, personally or through another, gives, procures, or lends, or agrees or offers to give, procure, or lend, or who endeavors to procure, any money or office or place of employment or valuable consideration to or for any elector, person for an elector, person in order to induce any elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for any particular person or party, or who does any such act on account of any person having voted or refrained from voting for any particular person at any election;

     (2)  Every person who advances [or], pays, provides, or causes to be paid[,] or provided any [money] consideration to, or to the use of, any other person, with the intent that the [money,] consideration, or any part thereof, shall be expended in or used for the purposes of bribery at any election, or for any purpose connected with or incidental to any election; or who knowingly pays or provides or causes to be paid or provided any [money] consideration to any person in the discharge or repayment of any [money] consideration wholly or partly expended in or used for the purposes of bribery at any election, or for any purpose connected with or incidental to any election; provided that for the purposes of this paragraph, "consideration" means any amount of money, any gift, any loan, or any other form of valuable consideration;

     (3)  Every elector who, before, during, or after any election, directly or indirectly, personally or through another, receives, agrees, or contracts for any money, gift, loan, or valuable consideration, office, place, or employment for oneself or any other person for voting or agreeing to vote, or for refraining to vote or agreeing to refrain from voting, or for voting or refraining to vote for any particular person or party;

     (4)  Every person who, directly or indirectly, personally or through another, makes use of, or threatens to make use of, any force, violence, or restraint; or inflicts or threatens to inflict any injury, damage, or loss in any manner, or in any way practices intimidation upon or against any person in order to induce or compel the person to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for any particular person or party, at any election, or on account of the person having voted or refrained from voting, or voted or refrained from voting for any particular person or party; or who by abduction, distress, or any device or contrivance impedes, prevents, or otherwise interferes with the free exercise of the elective franchise;

     (5)  Every person who, at any election, votes or attempts to vote in the name of any other person, living or dead, or in some fictitious name, or who votes or attempts to vote more than once during any election, regardless of whether one of the elections is in a state or territory of the United States outside of Hawaii, or knowingly gives or attempts to give more than one ballot for the same office at one time of voting; provided that a person does not commit an election fraud if the person votes once in Hawaii's primary election and also votes in the primary election of another state or territory during the same year, so long as the person was properly registered to vote in all such elections.  For the purposes of this paragraph, a person is properly registered to vote if the person's residence in the state in which [they are] the person is currently voting was acquired with the intent to make that state [their] the person's legal residence with all the accompanying obligations therein, and if, at the time of voting, that person is registered to vote with the office of elections of the state in which [they are] the person is voting;

     (6)  Every person who, before or during an election, knowingly publishes a false statement of the withdrawal of any candidate at the election;

     (7)  Every person who induces or procures any person to withdraw from being a candidate at an election in consideration of any payment or gift or valuable consideration; or of any threat; and every candidate who withdraws from being a candidate in pursuance of such inducement or procurement;

     (8)  Every public officer by law required to do or perform any act or thing with reference to any of the provisions in any law concerning elections who wilfully fails, neglects, or refuses to do or perform the same, or who is guilty of any wilfull violation of any of the provisions thereof;

     (9)  Any person who, without authorization from the chief election officer or clerk, wilfully [tampering] tampers or [attempting] attempts to open, tamper with, disarrange, deface, or impair in any manner whatsoever, or destroy any ballot box, receptable for depositing ballots, or voting machine while the same is in use at any election, or who, after the box, receptable, or machine is locked in order to preserve the ballots, registration, or record of any election made by the same, tampers or attempts to tamper with [any] the box, receptable, or voting machine;

    (10)  Every person who, at any time, and without authorization from the chief election officer or clerk, directly or indirectly, personally or through another, wilfully designs, alters, tampers with, accesses, facilitates unauthorized access to, or programs any electronic voting system [to cause the system to inaccurately record, tally, or report votes cast on the electronic voting system;], electromechanical voting equipment, or any vote reporting system;

    (11)  Every person who assists a voter in the completion of a ballot in violation of section 11-139; [and]

    (12)  Every person who knowingly broadcasts, televises, circulates, publishes, distributes, or otherwise communicates, including by electronic means or advertisement, false information about the time, date, place, or means of voting with the purpose of impeding, preventing, or otherwise interfering with the free exercise of the elective franchise[.];

    (13)  Every person who, without authorization from the chief election officer or clerk, creates, permits any person to create, or discloses to any person an image of a hard drive of any voting system component;

    (14)  Every person who, without authorization from the chief election officer or clerk, knowingly publishes or causes to be published passwords or other confidential information relating to an electronic voting system; and

    (15)  Every person who, without authorization under part II of chapter 11, and without authorization from the chief election officer or clerk, accesses or attempts to access the voter registration system; mutilates or erases any name, figure, or word on the voter register or a voter service center roster of voters; removes or destroys the voter register or a voter service center roster of voters; or mutilates, erases, or removes any part of the voter register or a voter service center roster of voters from the place where the register or roster has been deposited, with intent to destroy it, to procure or prevent the election of any person, or to prevent any voter from voting."

     SECTION 4.  In accordance with section 9 of article VII, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii and sections 37-91 and 37-93, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the legislature has determined that the appropriation contained in this Act will cause the state general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2024-2025 to be exceeded by $          , or       per cent.  The reasons for exceeding the general fund expenditure ceiling are that the appropriation made in this Act is necessary to serve the public interest and to meet the needs provided for by this Act.

     SECTION 5.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for video security surveillance recording equipment for the state's voting system.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the office of elections for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 6.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 7.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 8.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 5 Act shall take effect on July 1, 2024.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Elections; Voting; Security; Bribery; Crime; Appropriation; General Fund Expenditure Ceiling Exceeded

 

Description:

Imposes new security requirements for voting systems.  Deems as election fraud certain acts relating to the provision of valuable consideration, including gifts and loans, for the purpose of bribery; election tampering; and security breaches.  Appropriates moneys for video security surveillance recording equipment for the state's voting system.  Declares that the appropriation exceeds the state general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2024-2025.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.