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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, October 8, 2002

Island Voices
Forget holding Nov. 5 special election

By Gwendolyn Mink
Gwendolyn Mink is the daughter of the late Rep. Patsy Mink.

The special election to fill my mother's unexpired term is unprecedented.

It was unprecedented when the state's chief election officer announced the election would be on Nov. 30. The call for a special election on Nov. 5, coinciding with the general election, not only is unprecedented, it also violates state law. Hawai'i election law requires the chief election officer to give the people notice of a special election at least 60 days before the election is held.

During my mother's illness, the state elections office repeatedly stated that it would take at least 120 days to hold a special election. Suddenly, early last week, it was determined that 60 days was all the time that was needed to allow a field of qualified candidates to form and make their case to the public.

Then, in a move that suggested due process expectations about the conduct of elections need not apply, a request was made to hold a special election in less than 30 days. While the Supreme Court turned down the request, this sequence of events and decisions undermines the democratic process. It offends the Constitution.

Unduly burdens staff

And it imposes cruel and unnecessary work burdens and economic hardship on my mother's staff, which has served the 2nd Congressional District loyally and diligently for 12 years.

Hawai'i's most immediate prior experience with death in high office was in 1990, when the late U.S. Sen. Spark Matsunaga passed away on April 15, 1990. Then-Rep. Daniel Akaka was appointed to the vacated U.S. Senate seat and was sworn into office on May 16. A special election to fill the 2nd Congressional District seat vacated by now-Sen. Akaka was held in September 1990, some four months later.

During those four months, the country was debating war with Iraq and a failing economy, yet no one demanded that state laws be violated to fill the seat.

National precedent

More recent experiences from other states mirror Hawai'i's precedent. Congressman Bruce Vento, D-Minn., died in office on Oct. 10, 2000. No special election was held to fill his term, though Congress soon was caught in the frenzy of an undemocratic presidential election.

Likewise, Joe Moakley, D-Mass., who died on May 28, 2001, was not replaced by special election until October of that year.

Each state has its own election laws. The U.S. Constitution only requires that vacancies in the U.S. House of Representatives be filled by election, not appointment. The Constitution does not establish requirements as to timing. Nor does Hawai'i election law, based on past practice and my layperson's reading of relevant statutes.

Rather, Hawai'i election law requires that the special election be announced at least 60 days before it happens — presumably so that the people have time to come to an informed opinion. The law does not require that the election be held within 60 days. It certainly doesn't permit the election to be held in less than 60 days.

So why the rush to fill my late mother's vacancy?

My best guess is that the Democratic Party is trying to create an incumbent and so to narrow the field of contenders to assure an outcome favorable to the party. The victor in the November special election will be the incumbent in the race to fill my mother's seat in the 108th Congress, should she be re-elected posthumously on Nov. 5.

Ends-justifies-means politics

I am well aware of the stakes of a Democratic Party victory, both for the state and for the nation. But I don't think that the possibility of Republican victory justifies choking off the democratic process. That is ends-justifies-means politics, which is something my mother resisted throughout her career.

I am worried that the Democratic Party is trying to fix outcomes by scheduling elections to suit its purposes. Because the filing deadline for the November special election is Oct. 15 if the election is to be held on Nov. 30, and sooner, if the election is to be held on Nov. 5, the only people who are available to run are those who are not currently running for office. (Or those who are willing to abandon their races and thus create complexity and cost in the electoral process.)

The result is that the voters of Hawai'i will be deprived of a full range of choice in the November special election.

In the ensuing special election, to select a representative to the 108th Congress, the people will be further deprived of choice. The new "incumbent" will stake a claim to the seat that will be hard to beat, if the Democratic Party of Hawai'i has anything to say about it.

This offense to democracy is an offense to the people. It also is an offense to the dedicated women and men who have given their labor to the citizens of the 2nd Congressional District for all these years.

Federal law and the rules of the House terminate staff employment — salaries and benefits — at the close of business on the day of the special election. These same rules require my mother's office to be vacated at that time. With the state and the party playing games with election dates, work for the people of the 2nd Congressional District will have to end abruptly.

Constituents will suffer

Seniors who need help getting a Social Security check or immigrants who need a little assistance getting an emergency visa for a grandparent will suffer, as will everyone whose conscience was ever touched by my mother's devotion to the people of Hawai'i and to the individuals who helped her serve them — her staff.

This should be a time to honor my mother, by redoubling our commitment to openness, fairness, choice and justice. The state's rush to replace my mother immediately when neither precedent nor law says it has to is an affront to my mother and an insult to her memory.