HI SR85

Requests the Lieutenant Governor to convene a voter participation task force to address Hawaii's declining voter turnout rates, which have fallen from 94% at statehood in 1959 to 37-66% in recent elections.

Task force must study voter participation rates, review existing voter registration laws and barriers to voting, and analyze modernization efforts including election day registration, online registration, automatic registration, and vote-by-mail options.

Task force composition includes representatives from the Office of Elections, county clerks, University of Hawaii political science and public administration departments, nonpartisan voting advocacy groups, and young eligible voters selected by the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii.

First meeting must be convened by July 1, 2012, with preliminary reports due 20 days before the 2013 legislative session and final findings and recommendations due 20 days before the 2014 legislative session.

Task force ceases to exist on the final day of the 2014 regular legislative session.