Kailua-Kona voters face plastic ball tiebreaker amid House District 43 runoff

Honolulu residents gathered at the Office of Elections meeting on Monday to debate a proposed rule for deciding tied races. The proposal would require a drawing from a container that is shaken or rotated. The official performing the draw would look away to ensure they do not see the selected name.

The urgency stems from a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that found the previous House District 43 tiebreaker invalid. The high court determined the original process lacked required procedure. That race ended in a tie between incumbent Republican Kanani Souza and challenger Sheila Medeiros. State law mandates that a winner be decided by lot when votes are tied.

In the original incident, election staff placed the candidates' names in plastic balls. They drew the winner from a lauhala basket. The current proposal retains the use of physical objects, describing them as capsules or pieces of paper. This approach drew sharp criticism from public testifiers during the session.

Gregory Misakian, president of Kokua Council, argued against the use of physical objects for such a critical decision. "Elections should never be decided with plastic balls, plastic capsules, plastic Easter eggs, whatever you want to call them," Misakian told the commission. Tamara McKay, an Elections Commission member, emphasized the need for a fail-safe process. "A drawing should be the last resort, not a substitute for determining whether the vote itself can be verified," McKay stated. "And if a drawing ultimately must occur, the process must be beyond question."

Another testifier suggested that the candidates themselves should have more control over the selection mechanism. This would prevent a government official from solely pulling the name of the winner. The Office of Elections is scheduled to make a final decision on the new tiebreaker rule on Oct. 29.

House District 43 faces a separate issue regarding ballot wording. The header for the runoff reads "Republican Party Voters Only," which reflects the primary election context. However, the vote is occurring during the general election, where party restrictions do not apply. Colin Moore, a political analyst, advised voters not to be deterred by the header. "For anyone who’s confused, I think the key thing to remember is that anyone can vote in that race if you choose to," Moore said. "Because there is no Democratic challenger, who wins this will be the representative for that district."

The Office of Elections will review the public comments before finalizing the regulations. The new rule will apply to any future tied races in the state.