Background
Hawaiʻi’s nine-member Elections Commission had been without a chairperson since June 30, 2026. Commissioners Ralph Cushnie and Tamara McKay sought to convene a meeting, but the Office of Elections refused to provide staff support or the Commission’s meeting-notice mailing list. The Office initially maintained that support required a request from a chairperson or a majority vote taken at a public meeting, even though the Commission could not hold such a meeting without the requested support.
Cushnie and McKay petitioned the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus compelling the Office to provide the support required by HRS § 11-1.5(b). The Office challenged their standing, argued that the case was moot, and disputed whether individual commissioners could initiate a meeting. The Commission remained unable to meet while the proceeding was pending.
The Court’s Holding
The court granted the writ. It held that when the Elections Commission has no chairperson and no way to set a meeting, a single commissioner may request the staff support needed to notice and hold an organizational meeting, and the Office of Elections must provide it. That statutory duty is mandatory and ministerial, and the Office may not condition its performance on a prior Commission vote or approval from a nonexistent chairperson.
The court further held that scheduling a meeting is logistical coordination, not board business requiring public deliberation under the Sunshine Law. Once convened, the Commission must first elect a chairperson pro tem, which requires five votes—a majority of the nine-member Commission—not the six votes required to select the permanent chairperson. The court also concluded that the Commission, rather than the chief justice, fills a vacancy in its permanent chairperson’s seat.
Key Takeaways
- A single Elections Commission member may initiate an organizational meeting when the Commission is chairless.
- The Office of Elections must provide requested staffing and access to the Commission’s current meeting-notice mailing list.
- A chairperson pro tem requires five votes, while selection of the permanent chairperson requires a two-thirds vote.
Why It Matters
The decision prevents the agency supervised by the Elections Commission from controlling whether that oversight body can meet. It confirms that the Office’s support role cannot be used to create a procedural deadlock that stops the Commission from performing its statutory election-administration duties.
The ruling also distinguishes logistical scheduling from substantive board deliberation under Hawaiʻi’s Sunshine Law. Open-government requirements, the court explained, depend first on ensuring that a public board can lawfully convene.