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The Hawaii Supreme Court Friday ruled that Maui County Council member Alice Lee received the majority of votes cast in the general election and has been re-elected to her Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu residency seat.
The decision comes as the court Thursday heard oral arguments in the legal challenge of Noelani Ahia and 30 Maui County voters versus Lee, (former) County Clerk Kathy Kaohu and Scott Nago, the state chief elections officer.
Lee, the former council chairwoman, had finished with a 513-vote led over Ahia in the Nov. 8 election for the Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu residency seat. The lawsuit claimed 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 sought to void the results and hold a new election.
The court said that "the indisputable evidence is only 215 ballots were subject to the alleged unequal treatment" and that "any purported mistake by the Clerk" which was bought up in two counts by the plaintiffs in the lawsuit "would not change the outcome of the election."
The plaintiffs said the unequal treatment involved the Clerk's decision to delay by four-calendar days from Nov. 8 to 12, the mailing of the notice-to-cure to the 215 voters with return identification envelopes that the Clerk identified as deficient, according to the court's finding of fact, conclusions of law and judgment issued Friday afternoon.
But the court adds that "it was an error to delay mailing the 215 notice-to-cure to voters by four calendar days" to Nov. 12.
"The notice-to-cure should have been mailed sooner."
Associate Justice Michael D. Wilson dissented. The majority opinion was by Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald, along with Associate Justices Paula A. Nakayama, Sabrina S. McKenna and Todd W. Eddins
Reached via phone Friday afternoon, Lee said: "My initial reaction is that I'm bursting with excitement and I am so eager and thankful for the supreme court's decision and I'm looking forward to joining my colleagues and going to work for our community and I can't wait to start that. I plan to be sworn in as soon as possible."
As for the case, Lee said "Our staff is well-trained and they actually processed over 52,000 ballots. So, what you're talking about, a few hundred in question, that was in question, were really the result of issues at the tail end of the election process, but they handled everyone's ballots the same way. Everyone's. It wasn't marked Alice Lee. We were on all, my race was on all 52,000 ballots. So, to invalidate one race seemed unfair."
Lee said she will offer her services as council chair again and hopes that matter will be taken up at the next council meeting on Jan. 27.
On Jan. 2, the council with eight of its nine members sworn in as Lee awaited the results of the lawsuit, elected Tasha Kama as chairwoman.
Also reached via phone Friday afternoon, Ahia said: "I'm disappointed in the ruling and I stand by and agree with Judge Wilson's dissent. The ruling specifically said that the clerk made mistakes and violated the law in respect to notification. So, you know, it's disappointing that they would agree to have Alice Lee seated at this time."
(In his dissent, Wilson said the Clerk failed to "make reasonable efforts to determine the validity of ballots" and that the "election must be set aside" as the deficient ballots wrongly invalidated was not 215 but 678, which is over the 513 vote margin.)
Ahia said "this was never about me. I'm fine. I'm fine, win or lose. It's about the rights of our people to have their votes counted and to ensure that the voice of the people becomes the will of our government."
She said she will have to speak with her attorneys about any next steps.
"I don't know from a legal standpoint what the next steps are, but I am committed to ensure that our future elections are more transparent and that the procedures are such that our voters are not disenfranchised," Ahia said.
In an email statement Friday evening, the County Clerk's Office headed by interim County Clerk Moana Lutey said: "The Hawaii Supreme Court's decision validates the integrity and diligence of the employees in this office. We are grateful to the Supreme Court for issuing their Order so quickly after hearing oral argument."
With Friday's decision, the County Clerk will certify the results of the election in favor of Lee, the statement said.
Kaohu was the outgoing County Clerk. The new Maui County Council on Jan. 2 only temporarily approved former Department of Corporation Counsel attorneys Lutey and Richelle Thomson as county clerk and deputy clerk, respectively so that the council can do a full recruitment and consider the list of applicants for the jobs, officials said.
State Office of Elections on Friday declined to comment on the decision as a spokeswoman said they had not yet fully reviewed it.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. in a statement on Friday said: "We respect the decision of our highest court, just as we respect the right of our citizens to bring their concerns to the court for peaceful resolution."
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com and Robert Collias can be reached at rcollias@mauinews.com