HONOLULU - State chief elections officer Kevin Cronin was raked over the coals Tuesday by the chairwoman of the state Senate Ways and Means Committee for not providing detailed answers about budget requests and controversial voting machine contracts.

The grilling came during a committee informational briefing several days after Maui 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza sided for a second time with five Maui plaintiffs. Their attorney, Lance Collins, successfully argued that Cronin improperly approved new electronic voting methods.

Cardoza's 53-page written ruling backed up an oral decision in May granting approval of the plaintiff's request for summary judgment, saying that Cronin and his staff failed to bring the electronic voting methods first through the required administrative rules process.

Cardoza said Cronin's office has enough time before next year's elections to remedy the situation by issuing administrative rules before using electronic voting machines.

Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, the Ways and Means Committee chairwoman, wasn't so forgiving. Kim said she has "serious concerns'' about Cronin's knowledge and preparation.

Kim and other senators also repeatedly asked Cronin about Cardoza's court ruling as well as another pending dispute over the awarding of a voting machine contract last year.

But Cronin deflected many queries, saying the judge's written ruling issued Thurs-

day was received by him only on Monday, and that he could not comment on active litigation. Deputy Attorney General Robyn Chun defended the state.

The plaintiffs were Robert Babson Jr., Ann Babson, Joy Brann, Paula Brock and Daniel Grantham.

They sued the state, saying Cronin did not use the standard administrative rules process before he approved the use of electronic voting machines in the 2008 election.

Cardoza also agreed with the plaintiffs who said the elections office should have adopted administrative rules to provide guidance with the new system of transmitting results from Neighbor Islands via telephone lines and the Internet.

Cardoza's ruling granted a slew of injunctions against Cronin, including invalidating the existing rules that have been in place for four years for state and county elections.

As with the voting machines and information transmission process, the state would need to go through the administrative rule-making process - which requires public hearings and input - before re-approving voting system guidelines.

Kim ended the nearly two-hour committee hearing saying she was disinclined to lift restrictions that the Legislature imposed on some state elections office spending.

''It's like pulling teeth getting information,'' Kim said. ''I don't believe I'm willing to remove any of those provisos.''

Sen. Gary Hooser said he knows Cronin and his staff have difficult work to do, but he added that he has ''no confidence whatsoever'' in the elections office.

Cronin was conciliatory, frequently saying he agreed with or understood the assessments that Kim and other committee members made.

''We do the very best we can,'' he said at the end of the hearing.

Cronin has said that spending reductions ordered by the governor's office on all state agencies has left the elections office with too little money to fill four positions that are vital to an efficient election next year.

He said he was hoping to win assurances that lawmakers would release funds already budgeted to the office to hire a ballot supervisor and three other managers.

But Kim criticized Cronin for misusing funds last year for raises. She also charged he had not taken classes required to manage a request for a proposal the agency has released for new voting machines.

Civil service conversion funds were used for raises instead because the transition to the new machines is still years away, Cronin said. The budget enacted by the Legislature contained no restriction on those funds, he said.

Cronin also said he was told he had completed the appropriate contract management courses, adding that he is handling the request for proposal because the state procurement office refused to do so.

Kim questioned Cronin's intention to allow his wife to volunteer in the ballot operations unit, saying she is worried about the security of personal information.

Cronin said his wife is a lawyer with election management experience, and state rules do not bar volunteers. He added that the understaffed ballot operations unit needs his wife's help.

She was to start next week, but Cronin said he would reconsider his decision.

* Maui News Staff Writer Chris Hamilton contributed to this report.