BILL DESIGNED TO ALLOW ELIGIBLE VOTERS TO REGISTER ON ELECTION DAY MOVES FORWARD

House Bill 2590 passes out of Conference Committee and heads to final floor readings

(Honolulu, HI) – A significant voting reform bill, House Bill 2590, has passed out of Conference Committee this afternoon and is due for final floor readings.

HB2590 will allow eligible voters to register to vote ten days prior to election day at early walk-in sites by 2016, and will allow for Election Day voter registration at precinct polling places and early walk-in polling places by 2018. This bill was introduced by Representative Kaniela Ing, who was the bill introducer for a similar 2013 bill, HB321.

Good government organizations like Common Cause Hawaii and League of Women Voters of Hawaii have advocated for such a bill for over a decade.

“Eleven states have already adopted Election Day voter registration, and we are excited with the optimistic possibility that Hawaii could be next. With Hawaii’s consistent low voter turnout, coupled with several mishaps that occurred in the 2012 election cycle, more people have recognized the need to continue to streamline our election registration system and proactively modernize our voting systems,” said Carmille Lim, executive director of Common Cause Hawaii.

Conferees assigned to the bill, Representatives Karl Rhoads, Kaniela Ing, Cynthia Thielen, Richard Creagan, and Senators Claytone Hee, David Ige, and Maile Shimabukuro all voted in favor of the bill. HB2590 did not receive any “no” votes throughout the 2014 legislative session. If the bill is passed in final reading, it moves to the Governor for his signature.

Common Cause Hawaii is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to protect Hawaii’s political process and hold government accountable to the public interest. For more information, visit www.commoncause.org/HI

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