County council candidate files complaint over election results
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - After losing the race for the South Maui County Council seat by just 97 votes, former council chair Kelly King is asking Hawaii’s Supreme Court to void the results and have a new election.
King, who lost to incumbent Tom Cook, says many mail-in ballots were incorrectly deemed “deficient” for signature discrepancies.
In Maui County, there were nearly 1,100 deficient ballots compared to the national average. King says Maui County’s rejection rate was nearly double the state average in 2022.
The Supreme Court will then decide whether void or certify the results, or call for oral arguments between the parties.
Read the full response from the county clerk below:
2024 11 25 PR Re S. Maui Election Challenge by HNN on Scribd
Meanwhile, former teacher’s union boss Corey Rosenlee said he filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court asking for a new election for the state House seat representing West Oahu.
Three weeks ago, the election ended with Rosenlee just 11 votes behind Republican incumbent Elijah Pierick.
Rosenlee had been in the lead until after the fourth printout.
A recount by the Hawaii Office of Elections posted Friday showed no change in results.
It’ll be up to the state Supreme Court to decide whether void or certify the results, or call for oral arguments between the parties.
MORE: State House race concludes with no change after recount
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