This Associated Press story in the Los Angeles Times says that Hawaii is expected to have a vacancy in one of its two U.S. House seats soon, but that the Elections Department only has $5,000 and the special election, at best, will cost almost $1,000,000, even if the state uses all mail ballots.
Competitive elections (greater than two candidates) using a ranked system (multi-seat or single) would be able to negate the issue of special elections during vacancies by going back to the vote count, removing the vacating official, and redoing the count. Another plus for preferential voting systems.
. . . Yet another reason why plurality is terrible. This currently can’t be done because the field of candidates is small and the votes casted are heavily insincere.
Since the district isn’t competitve anyway just have the Democrats appoint somebody!
How often does it happen when an election is held and the STATE doesn’t show up? LOL
Secede from the Union ???
Merge with Alaska ???
OR — Have a const. amdt — each candidate / member has a rank order list for replacements during a term of office.
NO more idiot costly special elections to fill vacancies.
The legislative power must be 24/7 — regardless of all the morons who want limited sessions and term limits.
ONE year terms for ALL legislative bodies — to cause the party hacks to pay attention to the public 24/7 — and NOT the party hack special interest gangs.
— suggestion to HI BOE financing problem, under the current national health care finance joint reconsolidation legislation, just heavily tax all the cititzenship-documentation-washed-tourists (i.e. BO) that have had their COLB birth citizenship documentation modified (title-washing) thru the public-integrity challenged HI-DOH (Department of Health) and HI office of public information
we paved paradise and put up a parking lot ……
Just ask the citizens to donate money along with their ballots. Freedom isn’t free. I’ve heard somewhere it costs a buck o’five.
I can’t imagine that a federal court won’t require the state to come up with the cash. The Dems and Pubs have bankrupted so much of government that even the most fundamentals are going under funded. Sad.
Reminder — having elections is one of the very few things that the party hacks in the States MUST DO — to give the appearance that the regimes are *democratic*
— when in fact they are ALL minority rule gerrymander oligarchies — tending towards de facto party gang boss monarchies — depending on who the State Guv. is at any moment.
P.R. and A.V.