S.R. No. 127 Summary

• Act 136 (2019) requires all Hawaii elections to be conducted by mail beginning with the 2020 primary election, but does not include a transition plan for implementation.

• Section 11-109, HRS only mandates counties establish a single voter service center at the county clerk's office, with additional locations at the clerk's discretion.

• Rural areas in Hawaii, representing 10 percent of the state's population, historically rely on in-person and same-day registration voting methods, creating a disparity from urban voting patterns.

• Requests county clerks of Hawaii, Maui, Honolulu, and Kauai coordinate with the Office of Elections to develop a transition plan for rural voters converting to all-mail voting.

• Encourages counties to establish additional voter service centers specifically in rural communities to support the transition to all-mail elections.