Counties tell Senate committee funding helps but staffing and logistics limit how many voter service centers they can open

A joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Energy & Intergovernmental Affairs on SB2728 focused on funding to expand in-person voter service centers (VSCs), mail a printed voter information guide to registered voters, and invest in a voter-outreach campaign.

Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago estimated sending the printed voter guide to all registered voters would cost "over $2,000,000," and said outreach could cost about $178,000 based on 2024 advertising expenditures. County clerks described practical barriers: Moana Luthi (Maui County Clerk) said logistical and staffing constraints make opening additional VSCs difficult, especially in remote communities and after local emergencies. Honolulu City Clerk Glenn Takahashi said a constellation of temporary staff, volunteers and agency assignees runs current centers and that additional skilled computer operators are the bottleneck.

Witnesses discussed whether the voter guide should be sent to households rather than each registered voter to reduce cost and whether funding should be optional for counties rather than mandated. Several advocates and the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action urged funding to shorten lines and improve access, particularly in rural islands.

The committee deferred the bill after hearing that counties were not uniformly requesting additional VSCs and that timing and operational readiness would affect implementation.

What happens next: the committee deferred SB2728 to gather additional county-level staffing and operational information and to refine possible grant language linking funding to demonstrable local capacity.