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The November election results showing narrow victories by City Councilman Trevor Ozawa and Senate candidate Kurt Fevella were thrown into a legal quandary late Friday when the the Hawaii Supreme Court issued orders requiring election officials to provide information sought by people challenging the results.
The three unprecedented orders from the five-member court mean the elections of Ozawa or Fevella cannot be certified. Under state law, results of an election can be certified “only after a final determination in the contest has been made and the time for an appeal has expired.”
Ozawa is slated to be sworn in for his second term at an inauguration ceremony Wednesday. He is also expected to be elected by colleagues to be the Council’s new chairman. Meanwhile, opening day of the Legislature is Jan. 17, and Fevella, who would be the only Republican in the 25-member Senate, has already begun to attend hearings.
The Office of Elections’ final results reported that incumbent Ozawa won re-election to his East Honolulu seat by 22 votes over former state Rep. Tommy Waters. Separate complaints were filed by Waters and a group of East Honolulu voters, comprised largely of Water supporters.
Elections officials meanwhile issued final results showing Republican Kurt Fevella beating state Rep. Matt Lopresti by 116 votes for the state Senate’s District 19 (Ewa, Ewa Beach). Lopresti filed a complaint challenging the results of that election.
All three complaints raised similar questions regarding the margin of error for electronic vote counting machines and procedures used to determine the intent of certain voters in close elections in lieu of hand counting.
In all three court orders, the justices called on election officials to provide information to the challengers responding to their complaints and to provide their responses in three days. In footnotes the orders also point out that contest results cannot be certified until final determination is made and the time for appeals expire.
Glen Takahashi, Honolulu city clerk, said late Friday that he could not comment on pending litigation other than to say that, through attorneys, “our offices will be responding to the deadline in the orders.”
He confirmed that the results in the Ozawa-Waters contest cannot be certified until final determinations are made regarding the challenges.
A spokesman for the Office of Elections said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Waters called the orders “good news.”
Ozawa could not be reached for comment.
Lopresti said the justices’ order in his case was “unexpected.”
Said Fevella, “Whatever the results turn out to be are what they turn out to be.”
Supreme Court order Waters … by on Scribd
Supreme Court order Loprest… by on Scribd
Supreme Court Order Iwasa v… by on Scribd
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