Hawaiʻi election commissioners may be required to be approved by the Senate. That’s if a bill going through the Legislature passes.
The Hawaiʻi Elections Commission oversees the state’s elections and has the power to hire and fire Hawaiʻi’s chief elections officer.
The leaders of each political party in the House and Senate currently get to appoint four commissioners. The eight commissioners then pick a ninth member to be their chairperson.
But Rep. Adrian Tam introduced a measure that would require the Senate to confirm the nominated commissioners. During that process, the public can submit testimony about the candidate because there is a formal hearing.
"This allows for a little bit more transparency so the public can weigh in on who's going to sit on this commission, because this commission is very important considering that they oversee election staff and election workers, and they oversee the chief election officer," he said.
"Why shouldn't they face public scrutiny? Because there are a lot of boards and commissions in the state that does require advising consent. One of them is the LGBTQ+ Commission, or the Real Estate Commission, just to name a few. They all have to go through some sort of public hearing where the constituents can provide written or oral testimony to talk about the nominee at hand."
But many of the House Republicans voted against the measure because they say it will give the Democrats more say on who sits on the commission.
"This defeats the purpose of having a truly bipartisan Elections Commission. A truly bipartisan Elections Commission means both parties get to appoint who they want to serve on this commission," said Rep. Diamond Garcia on the House floor last week.
"If this bill passes, you all are telling us, the minority, that our appointments have to be approved by the majority party in power... I think this is going to move us in a wrong direction to where the Elections Commission will no longer be truly bipartisan."
The measure awaits a final vote in the House before it is transmitted to the Senate.
