Critics may seek to halt Kaua'i utility vote

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Two critics of the sale of Kaua'i Electric to a local cooperative said yesterday they may file a lawsuit to stop the selection of the utility's first elected board to get more voting safeguards put in place.

The Kaua'i Island Utility Co-op's $215 million purchase of Kaua'i Electric from the Mainland firm Citizens Communications was approved by the state Public Utilities Commission last year. The utility is being overseen by a 17-member interim board until a nine-member board is elected by consumers.

Thirty-one candidates are vying for the nine seats. A board nominating committee put up 15 candidates, and 16 more qualified by collecting signatures on petitions.

Each electric company ratepayer received one ballot by mail. A pamphlet with the ballot included names, photographs and a brief statement from each candidate. It also identified which candidates were nominated by the committee.

The mail-in ballots will be counted this weekend. The utility hired Elections Systems and Services, the same firm that runs state and county elections in Hawai'i, to count the ballots.

Walter Lewis and Raymond Chuan said the company did not have sufficient control over the election to ensure its fairness. Among other things, they said it was inappropriate to distinguish between candidates who were selected by the board nominating committee and those who were placed on the ballot by petition.

Utility President Alton Miyamoto said the firm has tried to use all the same safeguards employed by government in mail-in absentee voting.

"We feel strongly, and have been assured by ES&S, that by patterning our election after the state and county absentee ballot process, our membership will be delivered an honest, unbiased and impartial process," Miyamoto said.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808)245-3074.