Hawaii Supreme Court grapples with election tiebreaker

The Hawaii Supreme Court heard arguments over whether a random drawing from a woven lauhala box legally settled an exact 842-842 primary tie between Kanani Souza and Sheila Medeiros for a Leeward Oahu legislative seat that, absent a Democratic opponent, is the whole race.

Two voters were mistakenly given the wrong district's ballots and, once commingled, could not be identified or removed, a discrepancy report was finished five days after the tiebreaker was already held. Justices pressed the state's chief election officer on why the office rushed ahead without waiting on reconciliation data and on whether the drawing method, never tested for fairness, should have gone through formal rulemaking.

The state argues Souza must prove the irregularity changed the outcome even though officials admit they cannot know how the two disputed ballots were cast, while Medeiros asks the court to leave the certified results alone.

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