Hawaii Supreme Court filings challenge tied primary outcomes as ballot printing looms
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A new request was filed with the Hawaii Supreme Court, this time by Republican candidate Sheila Medeiros.
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This follows a series of rapid-fire filings that exposed flaws in the state’s primary election laws.
Medeiros asks court to reconsider ruling
State representative candidate Sheila Medeiros filed the new request late Wednesday asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its Sept. 4 decision.
That decision ordered a special election between Medeiros and incumbent Kanani Souza after the two tied in the winner-take-all Republican primary race.
Lauhala basket case
The state elections office had broken the tie by placing the candidates’ names in plastic eggs and drawing from a lauhala basket.
The Supreme Court invalidated that tiebreaker method because it lacked formal procedure.
Both Medeiros and Souza’s names now appear on the preview general election ballot for House District 43.
Fevella requests ballot addition
State Sen. Kurt Fevella also filed a request to the Supreme Court on Wednesday because his tied primary race with Bob McDermott was decided by a lauhala basket drawing too.
Fevella is contesting the preview ballot which names McDermott as the Republican candidate against Democrat Markus Owens.
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“The winner of the basket drawing, Bob (McDermott) cannot stand as the Senate District 20 race because it was invalid,” Fevella said. “Legally the nominee, the candidate has not been determined yet. The primary is not pau. That what the courts said.”
McDermott said he will let the courts decide.
“We’ll let the judges sort it out. It really doesn’t matter what I think, because the judges are going to do what the judges do. And I’m at the point in my life now, I’m old enough to know that worrying doesn’t accomplish anything. So my wife has prayed, I’ve prayed,” McDermott said.
Ballots for the November general election are supposed to start printing this month.
Kapolei voting center error
Both tied Republican primary races were also affected by a mistake at Kapolei’s walk-in voting center on Election Day.
Two voters who were supposed to get ballots that included the District 40 race between Fevella and McDermott’s race were handed the wrong ballots that instead included the Souza and Medeiros race by an elections office employee.
Calls for updated election laws
Experts say the issues show Hawaii’s election laws need updating.
“In many ways, the Supreme Court has invited the legislature to do this,” said Colin Moore, HNN’s political analyst and professor at the University of Hawaii.
“This doesn’t benefit anyone. I think it gives the voters less faith in our process. It’s confusing and difficult for candidates, and so I think this is just a very clear example of where we need to clean up some of these rules,” he said.
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The next legislative session starts on Jan. 20, 2027.
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