The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court affirmed its decision to invalidate the August primary for House District 43 and re-do the primary on the general election ballot under a section labeled “Republican Party Voters Only,” according to two decisions made Wednesday afternoon.
The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court invalidated the House District 43 primary results on Sept. 4 after finding that a two-ballot overage from the Kapolei Hale could cause a difference in election results and that the tiebreaker method of drawing names from a lauhala basket was invalid. The two Republican candidates, Sheila Medeiros and Kristen “Kanani” Souza will be placed on the November general election ballot under a “Republican Party Voters Only” section.
Souza argues against ballot label
Prompting the decision, Souza’s attorney, Thomas Otake, asked the court to amend the language on the ballot to state “Republican Primary Election,” or similar language, arguing “Republican Party Voters Only” does not identify the function of the race and could mislead voters. Hawaiʻi voters are not required to declare a party preference as a condition of voting in a primary election.
“The language for the primary election re-do must be correct to ensure each voter who chooses may cast their vote accordingly in the State Representative District 43 race. Language that is not carefully crafted will unintentionally infringe on voters’ rights and most critically, suppress votes,” Otake argued Sept. 11. “The designation ʻRepublican Party Voters Onlyʻ risks narrowing the electorate. This Court cannot inadvertently create a closed primary election.”
Justices Lisa Ginoza, Sonja McCullen and Kimberly Guidry denied Otake’s motion for reconsideration on Wednesday. The justices wrote that whether the primary went on the ballot in November or was in a separate primary election, all registered District 43 voters could cast a ballot. They rejected Otake’s request to label the primary “Republican Primary Election,” writing that “Souza’s requested change in the label for the new election does not materially affect who will vote in the new election.”
Justices Sabrina McKenna and Todd Eddins agreed with Otake and stated that “Republican Primary Election” is the accurate label.
McKenna and Eddins recommended a post-general primary or a standalone ballot in the District 43 race in an amended opinion on Sept. 10.
“Self-selection tilts the electorate toward the party voters the Aug. 8 primary was meant to hear from,” they wrote.
Medeiros says ballot label disenfranchises voters
Medeiros also took issue with the provision that would place her and Souza on a “Republic Party Voters Only” section of the ballot, writing in a motion on Sept. 9 that putting primary candidates on the general election ballots disenfranchises Republican voters from choosing a nominee.
“That is not a recount. It is not a cure of two ineligible ballots. It is not the same race. It changes who may vote, when they vote, and on what ballot they vote,” she wrote.
The majority of the court rejected Medeiros’ motion on Thursday, with McKenna and Eddins dissenting and writing that they would complete the primary after the general election.
Senate District 20 result remains in place
Separately, the Senate District 20 race for ‘Ewa Beach also ended with a tie and was decided using the lauhala basket. The tiebreaker led election officials to declare Bob McDermott the GOP primary winner over incumbent Kurt Fevella.
After the supreme court decided in the Souza v. Nago case on Sept. 4 that the tiebreaker procedure was invalid, Fevella filed a petition on Sept. 9 asking the court to invalidate the use of the tiebreaker in the Senate District 20 race.
“The result could not be trusted in the State House District 43 Republican primary race. Likewise, the result cannot be trusted in the Senate District 20 primary election and the voters' right to vote is compromised,” Fevella wrote. “In the interest of justice, the people — not an unreliable election result — should decide who will represent them as the Republican nominee in Senate District 20 on the 2026 General Election ballot. An election whose result cannot be trusted cannot be permitted to defeat the fundamental right to vote.”
The court unanimously denied Fevella’s petition on Wednesday, finding that he did not file an election challenge before the Aug. 24 deadline and he did not request an overage/underage report, unlike Souza.
“The law regarding overage and underage reports is confusing and ambiguous and needs to be clarified in order to avoid similar situations in future elections,” justices wrote.
The justices also wrote that the court does not have enough time to “entertain” petitions like Fevella’s. According to Hawaiʻi law, ballots must be sent to military and overseas voters by Friday.
Haley Lehman can be reached at haley@alohastatedaily.com.
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