Hawaii gubernatorial candidate challenges primary election results

The third-place finisher among Republicans who competed in Hawaii’s Aug. 13 primary election to be governor is seeking to have all results from the election invalidated.

Gary Cordery filed a complaint Monday with the Hawaii Supreme Court that raises questions about fairness and asks that all candidates be advanced to the Nov. 8 general election.

Cordery said in an interview that he is not making any allegations of fraud, though he believes voters have been disadvantaged by how party choices were grouped on ballots and whether or not voters could correct unknowing mistakes in marking ballots that rendered their choices void.

“We’re not alleging that there is wrongdoing, but there are just a lot of inconsistencies,” he said.

In his complaint, which included 34 named voters as co-plaintiffs, Cordery alleges that the arrangement of political parties and a nonpartisan category of candidates on ballots is “suspect” and not in compliance with Hawaii’s Constitution or state law.

Cordery noted in the complaint that the Republican Party candidate group was on the front of the double­-sided ballot along with the nonpartisan candidate category and several other political party candidate groups except for the Democratic Party, which was on the ballot’s backside along with nonpartisan office races.

“Plaintiffs aver the intent of the design and order is suspect, and was NOT in compliance,” the complaint said.

Under Hawaii law, the order in which parties appear on a single ballot, including nonpartisan, are determined by lot.

Cordery’s filing also suggests that limiting votes within a political party or the nonpartisan category of candidates violates the state Constitution, which states, “No person eligible to vote in any primary or special primary election shall be required to state a party preference or nonpartisanship as a condition of voting.”

State law also prohibits a voter from having to declare their party preference or lack of one in order to vote, but for primary elections specifies that “a voter shall be entitled to select and to vote the ballot of any one party or nonpartisan.”

Instructions sent to voters inform them that they need to select and limit their votes to candidates from only one political preference, which includes several political parties and nonpartisan candidates for races other than nonpartisan county contests and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

“Plaintiffs aver the requirement to state a political party are suspect, and was NOT in compliance,” the complaint states.

One other part of the election that Cordery’s complaint describes as inequitable gives voters who voted in person a chance to fill out a new ballot if the ballot they feed into a counting machine is rejected because of a mistake by the voter. Voters who vote by mail, who represented the vast majority of voters, can request a replacement ballot if they catch a mistake they make before mailing their ballot. But if they mail their ballot with a mistake that renders their ballot void upon counting, they have no opportunity for a do-over.

“The results and impact of (spoiled) ballots is incalculable, and are likely to cause irreparable injury,” the complaint said.

Cordery, a construction company owner who filed the complaint himself without legal counsel, said he is not claiming that he was disadvantaged or harmed as a candidate by any of the issues raised in the complaint.

In the primary election, Cordery received 10% of the votes for governor among Republican candidates. By comparison, former Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona won with 46% while retired mixed-martial arts champion fighter BJ Penn received 24%. Honolulu City Council member Heidi Tsuneyoshi finished fourth with 9%. Six other Republican candidates received 1% or less.

As it stands now, Aiona is set to face off against Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who won the primary election among Democrats for governor. Keleionalani Taylor also is in this race as the winner among two nonpartisan candidates for governor.

The state Office of Elections, the primary named defendant in the complaint, declined to comment on pending litigation.