Court Opinion

ID: 9596832
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:53:22.722236+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:42:54.039466
License: Public Domain

DISSENTING OPINION OF
ABE, J.
The officials of the Republican Party acknowledged that the job of its official watchers at the polls was as follows:
*2642. YOUR JOB
a. Go to your assigned polling place by 6:45 AM, in order to avoid disrupting the polling place when it opens at 7:00 AM. Put on your best SMILE and introduce yourself to the Chief Inspector, the Republican Board members, and all the clerks as the Republican poll watcher for your precinct. BE FRIENDLY. Explain to the Republican officials that you will be checking off the voters who have voted and would appreciate their cooperation in this effort. Be careful not to interfere with all officials and clerks.
b. REMEMBER, you are responsible for continually observing the polling place to prevent vote fraud and for reporting any violations. Detailed instructions on Ballot Security are provided separately. (Hawaiian laws and procedures make outright fraud difficult).
c. From 7:00 AM until 10:00 AM circle the number in front of the names of those Republicans and friendly voters on your list as they vote; with a red pencil.
d. A Runner from V. S. Headquarters will meet you at a pre-agreed place at least 1,000 feet from the entrance to the polls at 10 AM and again at 2 PM. The Runner will be carrying the Numerical Key. Positively identify him by making sure he is wearing a badge bearing the word “Runner” before going further.
e. Quickly, but calmly call off all red circled numbers on your list to the Runner. The Runner will circle those numbers on the Numerical Key which he takes back to V. S. Headquarters.
f. Return to the polls at once and begin again circling numbers of those who have voted, in blue pencil. Have lunch at a time convenient *265to you, catch up with any voters you may have missed, and continue circling in blue pencil until you meet the Runner at 2 PM.
g. At your 2 PM meeting with the Runner call only those numbers circled in blue pencil — when the call off has been completed, return to the polls at once and continue circling until the polls have closed, using lead pencil. Officially, this is at 6 PM, but remember that all those standing in line at 6 PM will be allowed to vote so stay until they have all finished.
h. Take your list to your V. S. Headquarters and hand it to your V. S. Leader.
Under HRS § 19-6 (7), it is a misdemeanor for any person, including candidates, to carry on “any campaign activities within the area described in section 11-1321 on the day in which an election is being held for the purpose of influencing votes.” It also provides that “{c}ampaign activities shall include but not be restricted to the following” and specifies four different activities.
In my opinion, paragraphs c to g, inclusive, of the duties assigned to the Republican watchers at the polls most explicitly require the watchers to carry on campaign activities in violation of section 19-6 (7).
This court states that “the poll watchers are not only authorized to call the attention of the chairman to any violations of the election laws which they observe, but are also ‘authorized to observe the conduct of the election in the precinct.’ We believe that, under the authorization ‘to observe the conduct of the election in the precinct,’ the poll watchers can record the names of those who have voted.” As to the foregoing statement of this court, I have no quarrel.
However, the duties of the watchers do not end there. The watchers are required to mark the names of Re*266publican voters and other voters friendly to the Republicans and transmit this information to official runners at appointed places without the polling area at the two predetermined times. The very obvious purpose of the arrangement was to permit people at the Republican headquarters, or other appointed places, to call Republican and “friendly” voters, who had not voted in order to persuade them to go to the polls to vote for Republicans. Of course, the entire transaction of the activity to influence votes does not occur within 1,000 feet of the polling area; however, a substantial portion of the activity is initiated within 1,000 feet of the polling area. In my opinion, the actions required of the watchers by the directive come within the term “campaign activities” to influence votes and therefore are prohibited by the statute.
I dissent and would reverse.

 Sec. 11-132 restricts activities within a radius of one thousand feet around the polling place.