Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 2, 1 February 2014 — 2014 will bring the first OHA primary election [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

2014 will bring the first OHA primary election

/A no ' ai kakou . . . During the 20 1 3 / \ legislative session, Senate Bill 3 was signed into law as Act \ 287. The new law

/ \established primary elections for OHATrustees, beginning with the 2014 elections. Since this will be the first time in OHA's 30-year history that the general puhlie will vote in a primary election for OHA Trustees, I heeame very concerned about whether OHA voters might get confused. Late last year, I wrote a letter to the State's Chief Election Officer asking him about his prepara-

tions. With less than seven months before the primary election on Aug. 9, 20 14, I explained to him that I am deeply eoncerned that I haven't witnessed any serious efforts by the Office of Elections to educate the puhlie. They should already be placing puhlie service announcements in the media to properly familiarize everyone regarding the new OHA voting process. According to the new law, whether or not OHA will need a primary eleehon depends on how many candidates sign up. For example, in the case of OHA's Three At-Large Seats without a Residency Requiremenl : (1) If there are only three or less eandidates that sign up for the three seats, the Chief Election Officer will declare those candidates to be legally elected and their names won't appear on the primary or general election ballot; (2) If four, five or six candidates sign up for the three seats, the Chief Eleehon Officer will automatically put their names on the general election ballot and they won't appear on the primary election ballot; and (3) However, if seven or more candidates sign up for the three seats, their names will be listed on the primary eleehon ballot. The names of the top six candidates receiv-

Interested in Hawaiian issues and OHA? Please visit my website at www.wwena akana.org for more information or emai.l me at rowenaa@oha.org.

ing the highest number of total votes in the primary eleehon will be placed on the general election ballot.

Also, if any candidate receives more than 50 percent of the total votes cast for the primary eleetion, the Chief Election Officer will declare that candidate to be legally elected and the name of that candidate won't appear on the general eleehon ballot. As most of us ean remember, we were all very disappointed about the laek of ballots during the 2012 general election. The Office

of Elections has assured me (in a response letter) that, for the 2014 Eleetions, they will be printing a ballot for eaeh registered voter. However, based on their past performance, I am not very confident that something else won't go wrong. I am hoping that the Office of Elections will do their jobs meticulously and not leave anything to ehanee. I believe that publishing a sample ballot to show the puhlie exactly where to find the OHA candidates (because this is new) on the primary election ballot would go a long way to lessen any confusion over the new voting procedure and will help potential candidates to feel more secure about the process. Otherwise, there will surely be challenges to the OHA elections by losing candidates, whieh will prevent elected eandidates from taking office. If you vote in the OH A elections and you too have concerns, please write to the Office of Elections, State of Hawaii, at 802 Lehua Ave., Pearl City, Hawaii 96782. You may also eall (808) 453-VOTE (8683) to voice your concerns. Mahalo nui. Aloha Ke Akua. ■

Follovv us: 3 /oha_hawaii | Fan us: B/officeofhawaiianaffairs | Watch us: Yūllīl^l /OHĀHawaii A

LEO 'ELELE v TRUSTEE MESSSAGES /

Rūwena Akana TrustEE, At-largE