The Hawaii Supreme Court is expected to “expeditiously” render a decision on a case challenging a Maui County Council election race, which has sidelined one of the members and affected some of the council’s work.

On Thursday, the Hawaii Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the legal challenge of Noelani Ahia and 30 Maui County voters versus Council Member Alice Lee, County Clerk Kathy Kaohu and Scott Nago, the state chief elections officer.

Lee, the former council chairwoman, had finished with a 513-vote lead over Ahia in the Nov. 8 election for the Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu residency seat, but the lawsuit claims that the county and state failed to notify more than 800 voters whose ballots had deficiencies and needed to be fixed by a certain deadline. It also alleged errors by the Clerk’s Office and other issues. The lawsuit seeks to void the results and hold a new election.

“The court will take this matter under advisement and will issue a decision expeditiously,” said Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald, after the nearly one and a half hour hearing on Oahu Thursday afternoon.

Because of the pending case, Council Chairwoman Tasha Kama moved today’s council meeting to Jan. 27 “to allow for more time for the possibility of the seat for the Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu residency area to be filled,” according to a news release.

Among the issues in the legal challenge was that the County Clerk did not mail out some notices to affected voters who had “deficient” ballots until four days after Election Day. The plaintiffs also said in a news release that the County Clerk also violated open records laws by refusing to make public the names of voters whose ballots were being held.

During the arguments which were being shown live on YouTube, plaintiffs’ attorney Lance Collins said elections staff were too busy cleaning up the voter service center at the Velma McWayne Santos Community Center in Wailuku after the elections and did not mail notices out to those with deficient ballots until Nov. 12, four days after the General Election on Nov. 8. Voters had until Nov. 16 to cure their ballots.

Plaintiffs complained about the lack of time they had to cure their ballots.

Collins also argued that Kaohu should have been able to provide a list of voters who had issues with their ballots. He said Ahia had asked for a list but was turned down repeatedly. He pointed to how the voter rolls are public.

In responding to a question by one of the justices, Collins said that “to the extent of the court is able to” the court should “provide guidance on all of these issues because all of the issues that have been raised in this will be repeated if elections officials are not given guidance on the correct interpretation of these statues.”

Maui County Deputy Corporation Counsel Caleb Rowe who argued for the defendants said that the plaintiffs’ claims “lack merit” and failed to demonstrate that errors, “even taken at face value,” would have changed the results in the race.

To the issue of the voter notification, Rowe said that Nov. 11 was a federal holiday and the postal service was not working so notices were not able to go out. He said laws allow for curing of ballots in business days not calendar days.

Rowe argued that the names of the voters who had issues with their ballots were not something to be made public and there were communication issues that could occur with the names being released.

“We believe there was a risk of mixed messaging, and other sorts of things that may have frustrated that purpose and that is part of the reason we determined that information shouldn’t be disclosed,” Rowe told the court.

In clarifying what mixed messaging meant, Rowe said that the clerk’s office would give out the proper ways on how to cure one’s ballot but “that might not have been the same information that was being given by a candidate who is going to call people.”

While Lee has not been sworn in due to the legal challenge, the rest of the council members took their oaths on Jan. 2.

Kama said in a news release Thursday: “My intent is to ensure that our council functions efficiently and makes the best use of time for both our members and the public.”

She said the Jan. 27 meeting agenda “will include items that are time-sensitive and of high priority as we conclude business from the prior council and begin to chart a path forward in this current term.”

The upcoming meeting agenda will include final reading of bills that were introduced and passed on first-reading last year, such as a bill on agricultural zoning, the Kula Agricultural Park, conditional permits and funding on the American Rescue Plan Act.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.