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The Hawaii Supreme Court will hear oral arguments at 2 p.m. Jan. 19 on the lawsuit challenging the election results of the Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu seat on the Maui County Council.
Incumbent Council Member Alice Lee had finished with a 513-vote lead over opponent Noelani Ahia in the Nov. 8 race. However, Ahia and 30 Maui County voters filed a lawsuit in the weeks that followed, alleging that election officials failed to notify 812 voters about deficiencies with their ballots.
Because of the pending lawsuit, only eight of the nine council members were able to be sworn in on Monday. The council elected Tasha Kama as chairperson but put off some of its leadership and committee decisions as they await the court's decision.
The court has also ordered the Maui County clerk and state chief election officer to provide more information on the handling of challenged ballots, including whether a "signature device" was initially used to compare signatures on return identification envelopes, according to a news release from the plaintiffs on Thursday.