The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court found on Friday afternoon that no candidate was validly nominated in the House District 43 primary after the tie between two Republican candidates was broken by a drawing from a lauhala basket in August. The two candidates will be placed on the general election ballot in November.
Candidates for House District 43, Kristen “Kanani” and Sheila Medeiros, both Republicans, tied in the August primary. Medeiros was named representative elect after election officials drew her name from a lauhala basket on Aug. 15.
Souza challenged Hawaiʻi Chief Election Officer Scott Nago, Acting Honolulu City Clerk Chadd Kadota and Honolulu Elections Administrator Rex Quidilla and justices ruled in her favor on Friday.
According to Quidilla’s testimony on Wednesday, two District 40, precinct three voters were mistakenly given ballots to vote in District 43, precinct 3 on election day at Kapolei Hale. That created two overages for House District 43-03 and two underages at House District 40-03 in which there was a discrepancy between envelopes received and the ballots counted.
In two opinions issued Friday afternoon, justices invalidated the House District 43 primary results. Medeiros and Souza will be on the general election ballot under a section identified for “Republican Party Voters Only.”
Souza told Aloha State Daily on Friday that she believes the justices made the right decision and she looks forward to being in the general election.
“This really is about the preservation of democracy, the voters right to vote and making sure that we have eligible voters voting in the proper district,” she said.
She said that this case will lead to the Hawaiʻi legislators revisiting election laws during the next session, primarily the tiebreaker statute.
“I think this is going to spearhead a lot of things going forward and I’m glad to be a part of this very historic moment,” she said. “This has a far greater ripple effect than just about me and my house seat. This was never about me. I just did what was right and today I think the outcome was gratifying.”
Associate Justice Lisa Ginoza, Intermediate Court of Appeals Associate Judge Sonja McCullen and Intermediate Court of Appeals Associate Judge Kimberly Guidry, wrote that evidence from Quidilla, Kadota and Nago supports that the two-ballot overage could cause a difference in election results.
The found that Nago erred by not complying with state rulemaking process and ordered Nago to “expeditiously promulgate rules to implement the tie-breaker statute.”
Associate Justice Todd Eddins, joined by Associate Justice Sabrina McKenna, wrote that the “primary is not pau” and the choice returns to the voters.
“The right to vote means little if the result cannot be trusted. Here it could not. So the voters will settle it,” the justices wrote.
According to Eddins and McKenna, the two-vote overage made a difference in the election with no margin, showing that “there was no reliable tie to break.”
“The cause is known. Not the effect. Whether either ballot carried a vote in the Republican race, and for whom, the record doesn’t say. At a tie, that’s enough. Two ballots that do not belong, in a race decided by none, put the true result beyond reach,” Eddins and McKenna wrote.
Eddins and McKenna wrote that Nago’s method of sealing candidates’ names in plastic egg captures, dropping them into a lauhala basket and drawing one was a rule. They found that tiebreaker method invalid and the selection of Medeiros falls with the rule.
Aloha State Daily reached out to Sheila Medeiros for comment.
Haley Lehman can be reached at haley@alohastatedaily.com.
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
