Office of the Maui County Clerk files opposition in election challenge for South Maui Council race

The Maui County Clerk today filed its opposition in the election challenge brought by former Council member Kelly King, who lost the race for the South Maui Council seat to incumbent Tom Cook in the 2024 General Election.

The matter has now been fully briefed and is before the Hawai‘i Supreme Court.

King and a group of 30 voters sought to invalidate the results of the 2024 General Election, requesting that the Hawai‘i Supreme Court order a new election. The lawsuit claims the Clerk’s Office failed to follow the law related to the review of voter signatures on return identification envelopes, thereby improperly invalidating signatures. The Clerk’s Office asserts that all laws and administrative rules were followed.

“The vast majority of Maui County voters returned their ballot envelopes by mail or by depositing in an official dropbox,” said County Clerk Moana M. Lutey.

Elections in Hawai‘i have been conducted by mail since 2020, although voter service centers are open for voters needing additional assistance. Upon receipt of the return envelopes, the Clerk’s Office ran the envelopes through the Agilis scanning and sorting machine, which captured an image of the voter’s signature that was compared with reference signatures in the statewide voter database. Envelopes with signatures that match a voter’s reference images were securely transmitted to the State for counting and tabulation.

Return envelopes that were not signed by the voter, or where envelope signatures did not match any of the reference images in the voter’s file, were separated for further action.

“First, the Clerk’s Office immediately mailed any affected voter a notice with instructions on how to ‘cure’ the deficiency. Voters with emails or phones in their record were also contacted by these methods,” according to a news release from the Clerk’s Office

“I am extremely proud of our hardworking staff,” said Lutey. “We work very, very long hours during the election cycle and are diligent in our duty to provide voters with every opportunity to exercise their right to vote.” At the end of the cure period, 939 return envelopes remained uncured out of the 57,713 mail-in total.

The County’s memorandum in opposition asks the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court to uphold the will of the voters of the County of Maui and dismiss the complaint with prejudice. The Court may decide the matter on the motions and evidence, or may hold oral argument. A copy of the County’s memorandum is available at www.MauiCountyVotes.gov.