NO. 23916
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAII
_________________________________________________________________
KAUI JOCHANAN AMSTERDAM, Plaintiff
vs.
ELECTIONS OFFICE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII;
DWAYNE YOSHINA, in his official capacity as
Chief Elections Officer of the State of Hawaii;
BENJAMIN CAYETANO, in his official capacity as
Chief Executive Officer of the State of Hawai`i;
and appropriate Officer(s) of the State of Hawaii
associated with items herein, Defendants
_________________________________________________________________
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT
(By: Levinson, Acting C.J., Ramil, Acoba, JJ., and
Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge Burns,
in place of Moon, C.J., recused; Circuit Judge
Wong, in place of Nakayama, J., absent)
Upon consideration of the complaint filed by Plaintiff Kaui Jochanan Amsterdam and the motion to dismiss filed by Defendants Elections Office of the State of Hawaii, Chief Elections Officer Dwayne Yoshina, and Governor Benjamin Cayetano, and with notice of the United States Supreme Courts' decision in Rice v. Cayetano, ___ U.S. ___, 120 S. Ct. 1044 (2000) (concluding that race based restrictions on voting for Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs are unconstitutional), we conclude that Plaintiff's complaint fails to state an election contest claim under HRS заза 11-172 and 11-174.5 because the
complaint fails to set forth any cause "that could cause a difference in the election results," HRS за11-172, or "change the outcome of the election . . . [or] . . . demonstrate that the correct result cannot be ascertained,"Akaka v. Yoshina, 84 Hawaii 383, 387-388, 935 P.2d 98, 102-103 (1997). Therefore,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants' motion to dismiss is granted and Plaintiff's "Complain[t] [C]ontesting OHA Election Results for Cause" is dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See HRAP 2.1, HRCP 12(b)(6).
DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii, December 11, 2000.