The Hawaii Supreme Court has upheld the results of the 2024 general election for the South Maui Council seat, rejecting a legal challenge brought by Kelly King and a group of 30 voters.
King, who lost to incumbent Council member Tom Cook by 97 votes, had sought to invalidate the results and call for a new election.
This marks the second consecutive general election in Hawaii where a candidate has filed a lawsuit alleging that Maui County election officials improperly rejected valid votes. King, who previously served on the Maui County Council from 2017 to 2023, filed her complaint with the Hawaii Supreme Court in late November, challenging the election results and requesting a new vote for the South Maui seat.
King contended that a higher-than-usual percentage of sealed mail-in ballots was rejected due to voter signature issues on the ballot envelopes.
She argued that Maui County’s rejection rate of 1.9% was nearly double the 1% national average in 2022 and higher than Hawaii’s statewide average of 0.8% to 1.2% in recent years.
However, the court ruled Tuesday in favor of Maui County Clerk Moana Lutey, affirming that the Clerk’s Office had properly followed state laws and administrative rules. The decision was based on “undisputed facts” confirming the clerk’s proper handling of return identification envelopes and the notification process for voters with deficiencies.
The court stated, “Plaintiffs failed to establish any error was committed by the Clerk in the review and processing of the return identification envelopes. Plaintiffs also failed to establish a legal cause between the mistakes alleged in the complaint and the final election results because the preponderance of the evidence established that every voter with a rejected return identification envelope was provided with notice and a sufficient period of time to cure the deficiency determination made by the Clerk.”
The case primarily centered on the handling of 1,556 mail-in ballots with defective return identification envelopes. The Clerk’s Office confirmed that 594 voters resolved the deficiencies in time for their ballots to be counted, while 23 voters chose to vote in person. However, 939 ballots were excluded after their corresponding issues were not corrected by the Nov. 13 deadline.
In 16 cases, voters reported that they had not mailed the deficient envelopes attributed to them. These allegations were forwarded to the Maui Police Department for investigation into potential election fraud.
The court further ruled that the clerk shall sign and deliver the certificate of election to Cook, which will be conclusive of his right to the office of Council member for the South Maui seat on the Maui County Council.
“While we’re aware that election-related litigation is all too common in this day and age, going through a lawsuit immediately following the immense effort of conducting an election still takes a human toll on our hardworking staff, who work long hours during the election cycle and are diligent in providing voters with every opportunity to exercise their right to vote,” Lutey said in a statement. “We are grateful to the Court for quickly resolving this matter so that we can proceed with the start of the 2025 Council term unimpeded.”
The Supreme Court’s decision affirmed the legitimacy of the election results, clearing the way for the new Council term to begin as planned, with the Maui County Council inauguration set for Thursday.
