Hawaii lacks funds to send Rep. to Congress

[ensho]

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=115825§ionid=3510203


US President Barack Obama's home state of Hawaii may fail to send its representative to Congress this November as the state is struggling to collect enough money to hold the election in a special way.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, announced last week he will step down Feb. 28 after 19 years so he can focus more on the gubernatorial race.

The slimming federal budget dedications have left the state Office of Elections with about USD 5,000 to last until July, raising concerns that the state would not be able to fill one of the two seats it has at the House of Representatives.

According to Scott Nago, the interim Chief Elections Officer of the resort state, the scanty budget cannot compensate for a special election which is going to cost Honolulu around USD 1 million, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.

A vote-by-mail special election scheduled for May 1 could only be held if the state collected the USD 925,000 it would cost. This is while a walk-in election would mean 1.2 million for the election office coffer.

"Democracy depends on representation of the people," Jean Aoki, legislative liaison for the Hawaii chapter of the League of Women Voters.
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is this a 'first'?

bake sales?

[napi21]

1. Why do elections cost so much? I've never understood that.

Especially a mil in election.

[SoCalDem]

3. Printing ballots, mailing ballots, paying people to supervise & scrutinize

It does seem like a lot of money, but then there are lots of people to contact, since it's one rep for the half of the state, and their state is made up of multiple islands..

[kirby]

2. Get a corporate sponsor...

That is who they end up working for once they get in, might as well pay for the election themselves.

[T Wolf]

4. Only those willing to pay to vote should be allowed to vote. that way, only the "right" people will

vote and the budget issue can get taken care of.

Add in Kirby's idea of corporate sponsorship and maybe they can make a profit on the election.

is the ':sarcasm:' necessary?

[Renew Deal]

5. This news came from Iran?

Any other sources?

[CreekDog]

6. This will get a court order to Hawaii: hold the damned election

if you can keep the water running, you can hold an election in a democracy.