Requests to vote in prison denied, suit says
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
A federal lawsuit was filed yesterday by a man who said his constitutional right to vote was violated while he was being held at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center in 2000.
William Remmers Jr. filed the class-action lawsuit in federal court on behalf of himself and others held in prison before their trial who may have had their voting rights violated. Named as defendants were Department of Public Safety officials, state chief elections officer Dwayne Yoshina, and city clerk Genevieve Wong.
The suit, which is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i, asks that the court issue an order directing prison officials to ensure that pretrial detainees are allowed to vote.
Remmers said in the lawsuit that he was a pretrial detainee at OCCC before the November 2000 election. Remmers said he was registered to vote and planned to cast an absentee ballot.
The lawsuit alleges that OCCC officials told Remmers and other inmates that all they needed to do was sign up for a ballot and corrections officials would do the rest. At least 10 inmates, including Remmers, asked for ballots, the lawsuit said.
Remmers said he was not told that absentee applications were available from the Office of the City Clerk. None of the inmates received a ballot, the lawsuit said.
OCCC officials told the inmates that the voter information was forwarded to city elections officials, but OCCC was not responsible for distributing the absentee ballots, according to the lawsuit. Even if the inmates received the ballots, their votes would be void because the facility lacked a certified official to oversee absentee voting, the lawsuit said.
Public Safety officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Remmers said his right to vote under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was violated by the state and city. He is being represented by attorneys John Edmunds and Ronald Verga.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8030 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
