Press Release
Hawaii Legislature Fails to Act on Bills that would Strengthen Our Democracy
"At a time when Hawaiians are demanding their lawmakers fight back against attacks on our democracy, our legislature failed to act."
Press
Media Contacts
Maya Majikas
Communications Strategist
mmajikas@commoncause.org
Common Cause’s network of national and state democracy reform experts are frequent media commentators. To talk with one of our experts, please reach out to any member of the press team above.
Press Release
Honolulu Civil Beat Article – March 03, 2022
Press Release
House Bill 862 Awarded Annual Rusty Scalpel Award By Good Government Groups
Award given to state legislature's most dishonest "gut and replace" legislation. Honolulu, HI — Today, Common Cause Hawaii and The League of Women Voters of Hawaii announced that this year’s Rusty Scalpel Award for most unconstitutional state legislation was given to HB 862 “Relating to State Government,” for its overly-broad scope, ever-changing intent, and lack of transparency throughout the bill-to-law process. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser urged Governor Ige to veto the legislation, which he included on his intent-to-veto list...
Press Release
Common Cause Hawaii 2021 State Legislative Victories
(Honolulu) – During a 2021 Hawaii State legislative session that started amid a surging global pandemic with the Capitol closed to the public and legislators focused on a dire local economic outlook, Common Cause Hawaii understood that democracy was still our mission. We continued to remind our elected officials that we need to ease access to voter registration for our citizens, we must restore confidence in our government through ethics reform, and we need more transparency and accountability in our government. Common Cause Hawaii remained...
News Clip
Honolulu Civil Beat – May 17, 2021 – Community Voice – Remote Testimony Worked Well This Session. Now Let’s Make It Even Better
The 2021 Hawaii legislative session was momentous and not just for the issues addressed (or left unaddressed). It was conducted entirely remotely for the first time, given that the Capitol was closed to the public due to COVID-19.
For years, advocates have supported remote public testimony. This would seem reasonable and necessary, given our island state and with the Capitol located on Oahu. Hawaii and Maui county councils have had a hybrid system, allowing both in-person and remote testimony at satellite locations.
For years, advocates have supported remote public testimony. This would seem reasonable and necessary, given our island state and with the Capitol located on Oahu. Hawaii and Maui county councils have had a hybrid system, allowing both in-person and remote testimony at satellite locations.
News Clip
Common Cause Hawaii featured on ThinkTechHawaii
Sandy Ma's appearance on ThinkTech had her talking about Common Cause Hawaii legislative efforts on voting and ethics in Hawaii. The video of the show was streamed live and has been uploaded to YouTube. You can view the entire interview by clicking on the link below.
News Clip
Honolulu Star-Advertiser Letter to the Editor – March 18, 2021 – AVR won’t expose voters’ private data
There has been misleading messaging trying to scare Hawaii about automatic voter registration (AVR), but we know better. Some people, including elected officials, are saying that AVR will let voters’ private data become public. This is just plain false. Hawaii has a longstanding law in place specifically to protect people’s voter registration data — Hawaii Revised Statutes § 11-97 — and the current AVR bill moving in the Legislature, Senate Bill 159, SD1, will not change that. A county clerk may not disclose voter registration...
News Clip
Hawaii Public Radio The Conversation – March 10, 2021: Will Hawaii Adopt Automatic Voter Registration?
Common Cause on automatic voter registration
2020 saw changes at the Hawaii Office of Elections, which conducted its first election entirely by mail. Now, another innovation is on the docket - automatic voter registration. Sanday Ma of Common Cause Hawaii spoke to The Conversation's Savannah Harriman-Pote about what "automatic" voter registration actually means. SB 159 passed through the Senate and has made it to the House. If it passes there, Hawaii would join 20 other states that already have AVR.
Click on the...
2020 saw changes at the Hawaii Office of Elections, which conducted its first election entirely by mail. Now, another innovation is on the docket - automatic voter registration. Sanday Ma of Common Cause Hawaii spoke to The Conversation's Savannah Harriman-Pote about what "automatic" voter registration actually means. SB 159 passed through the Senate and has made it to the House. If it passes there, Hawaii would join 20 other states that already have AVR.
Click on the...
News Clip
Honolulu Civil Beat – March 04, 2021 – Hawaii’s Pro-Voting Reforms Are Strengthening Our Elections
Opinion by Sandy Ma, Common Cause Hawaii's Executive Director: Hawaii has a long and noble history of promoting voting among its people. During this Women’s History Month, we proudly remember that under the first Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, women sat and voted alongside men in the legislative sessions of the House of Nobles.
Hawaii’s elected officials, especially state leadership in the House and Senate, understand that automatic voter registration will eliminate barriers to registering to vote, especially for...
Hawaii’s elected officials, especially state leadership in the House and Senate, understand that automatic voter registration will eliminate barriers to registering to vote, especially for...
News Clip
Honolulu Star-Advertiser – February 28, 2021 – Column: Automatic voter registration promotes the right to vote
It is encouraging that there are several bills before this legislative session that propose the next logical step of automatic voter registration (AVR). That includes bills introduced in the state House of Representatives by Speaker Scott Saiki and in the Senate by longtime AVR champion Sen. Karl Rhoads. One bill, introduced by Rep. Mark Nakashima, received unanimous support at its first hearing. Hopefully that legislative momentum will reverberate.
AVR is a policy tool that will allow our government to make the voter...
AVR is a policy tool that will allow our government to make the voter...
Press Release
Statement of Common Cause Hawaii Executive Director Sandy Ma on Arrest of Hawaii Proud Boy
Hawaii Proud Boy Founder Nicholas Ochs and all those who participated, encouraged, and incited the violent insurrection must be fully held accountable under the law.
News Clip
Honolulu Star-Advertiser Letter to the Editor – Intimidation of Hawaii voters can’t be allowed
Disturbing incidents of voter intimidation occurred throughout Hawaii on Election Day.
Arguably, the most egregious occurred at Honolulu Hale, where a group of people carrying a Proud Boys flag and a large stick approached the long line of voters, shouting, intimidating and threatening physical violence, according to Common Cause Hawaii election protection volunteers. The group left before police or staff arrived.
These reported actions are not just reprehensible, they are unacceptable in a democracy. This can...
Arguably, the most egregious occurred at Honolulu Hale, where a group of people carrying a Proud Boys flag and a large stick approached the long line of voters, shouting, intimidating and threatening physical violence, according to Common Cause Hawaii election protection volunteers. The group left before police or staff arrived.
These reported actions are not just reprehensible, they are unacceptable in a democracy. This can...
News Clip
Honolulu Star-Advertiser Column: Hawaii’s vote-by-mail works, but improvements are necessary
Hawaii’s vote-by-mail process adopted in 2019, prior to the advent of the coronavirus, was proven emphatically to work. It significantly increased Hawaii’s disgracefully low voter turnout rate, even in the middle of a pandemic. Voter turnout increased by more than 16% over the previous primary in a general election year, and by more than 14% over the prior general election!
Even though Hawaii’s mail-in balloting process was successful, improvements should still be made.
This column was authored by Sandy Ma,...
Even though Hawaii’s mail-in balloting process was successful, improvements should still be made.
This column was authored by Sandy Ma,...