HILO — The winner of the state House District 4 nonpartisan primary has filed a petition with the Hawaii Supreme Court, challenging the results for the Puna seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Faye Hanohano.
HILO — The winner of the state House District 4 nonpartisan primary has filed a petition with the Hawaii Supreme Court, challenging the results for the Puna seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Faye Hanohano.
Hope Cermelj, a nonpartisan candidate who garnered 35 votes in the Aug. 11 primary to nonpartisan opponent Moke Stephens’ 32 votes, needed 344 votes — 10 percent of the total cast for the office — in order to face off against Hanohano in the Nov. 6 general election. Hanohano had 3,371 votes.
Cermelj, who is representing herself, filed a hand-written petition with the court. It was accepted and granted a case number, she said. Now she’s serving papers against County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi and state Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago. She’s hoping the court will grant oral arguments, although it is not required to do so.
Although two of the three Puna polling places where she was a candidate opened on time and the third opened just 10 minutes late, Cermelj said she witnessed at least five people being turned away and not allowed to vote. The customary practice when a voter is not listed in the poll book is to allow him or her to vote a provisional ballot, she said.
“It was ugly,” Cermelj said of the election. “Isn’t that what people are dying for in other countries? The right to vote?”
Cermelj is the second Hawaii Island candidate to contest the election.
Kalei Akaka, the 29-year-old granddaughter of U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, had 1,022 votes in a four-way Democratic primary for Kailua-Kona House District 6, just 45 fewer than the winner, Nicole Lowen. The winner faces Republican candidate Roy Ebert in the general election.
In the petition filed Tuesday, Akaka claims any ballots after the polls were supposed to close at the statutory 6 p.m. poll closing shouldn’t have been counted. Gov. Neil Abercrombie, in a proclamation, had extended the poll hours by 90 minutes for Hawaii Island after learning many polling places opened late.
For a challenge to be successful, the Supreme Court needs to be convinced that any election problems changed the likely outcome of the election, a high bar to overcome, said Hawaii County Deputy Corporation Counsel Michael Udovic, who is defending the cases.
Cermelj isn’t sure she would have gotten the requisite 344 votes had the election run more smoothly. But she wants to do her part to stand up for the rights of disenfranchised voters.
“I hope and pray to the Lord that the truth comes out for everybody’s sake,” she said. “I want the Supreme Court to know that people were denied the right to vote.”
Unlike in some other states, candidates in Hawaii have no choice other than to petition the Supreme Court if they want a recount. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have automatic recounts if the difference between the winner and loser is within a certain amount, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures 2010 report.