Posted on: Saturday, September 25, 2004

Eligibility in race disputed in court

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Republican Party of Hawai'i is asking the state Supreme Court to remove Maui candidate Louis Cortez Gallup's name from the general election ballot because party officials say he is not a U.S. citizen.

The complaint was one of at least two filed with the high court yesterday, the final day to challenge the results of the Sept. 18 primary election. The general election is set for Nov. 2.

Gallup, a Democrat, is running against incumbent Republican Chris Halford in the 11th District (South Maui). Both men were unopposed in the primary.

But the Republicans claimed in a filing yesterday that Gallup, a Canadian-born American Indian, is not eligible to vote or seek political office because he is not a U.S. citizen. The party submitted a Sept. 22 letter from Attorney General Mark Bennett, who wrote that immigration records confirmed that Gallup is not a citizen.

In a written statement yesterday, Gallup disputed the claim and said he would continue to campaign. A resident of Maui since 1997, Gallup said he has "dual citizenship" and cited a 1794 treaty which he said allows Indians from Canada and the United States to "pass freely over the border and permanently reside in either country without being bound by the immigration laws of either country."

But in the letter Bennett sent to both political parties, as well as to Halford and Gallup, the attorney general enclosed a letter from the special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who disputed Gallup's claim of dual citizenship.

"According to Citizenship and Immigration Service, an American Indian born in Canada is not automatically a United States citizen," wrote special agent in charge Wayne Wills.

Democratic Party Chairman Brickwood Galuteria said party officials "regret this situation and hope it is just a misunderstanding that Mr. Gallup can clear up." Galuteria said it will be up to the courts to decide Gallup's eligibility.

In the other case, Hawai'i County Council candidate Ollie Fulks has asked the Supreme Court to declare him the winner in the race for the 3rd District (Waiakea, Kea'au) seat. Incumbent Jimmy Arakaki defeated Fulks, 3,104 to 796, in the winner-take-all primary, but Fulks claims Arakaki shouldn't have been allowed to run.

Attorney David Kimo Frankel, who filed the challenge on behalf of Fulks, said a charter amendment approved by Big Island voters in 1996 limited County Council members to four consecutive two-year terms. Frankel said Arakaki was re-elected in 1996 and should have served his last term in 2002.

Arakaki's attorney has argued that there were no term limits when Arakaki ran in 1996 and the charter amendment became effective with the 1998 election.

Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.