Electronically Filed

Supreme Court
NO. SCEC-18-0000909
SCEC-18-0000909
10-JAN-2019
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAII
11:33 AM
THOMAS WATERS, a/k/a TOMMY ORIGINAL PROCEEDINGS
WATERS,

Petitioner,

VS.

SCOTT NAGO, Chief Elections Officer;

STATE OF HAWAII OFFICE OF
ELECTIONS; and GLEN TAKAHASHI, in
his official capacity as the City Clerk of
the City & County of Honolulu,

Respondents.

GLEN I. TAKAHASHI, CITY CLERK FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY OF

HONOLULU'S RESPONSE, RE: COURT'S JANUARY 8, 2019 ORDER

DECLARATION OF GLEN I. TAKAHASHI

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

DONNA Y. L. LEONG 3226-0

Corporation Counsel
DUANE W. H. PANG 4176-0
ERNEST H. NOMURA 4829-0
Deputies Corporation Counsel
City and County of Honolulu
530 South King Street, Room 110
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Telephone: 768-5230/768-5120
Facsimile: 768-5105
Email:dpang1@honolulu.gov
enomura@honolulu.gov
Attorneys for Respondent
GLEN I. TAKAHASHI, CITY CLERK OF THE
CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU
 NO. SCEC-18-0000909

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAII

THOMAS WATERS, a/k/a TOMMY ORIGINAL PROCEEDINGS

WATERS,

Petitioner,
VS.

SCOTT NAGO, Chief Elections Officer,

Office of Elections; STATE OF HAWAII
OFFICE OF ELECTIONS; and GLEN
TAKAHASHI, in his official capacity as
the City Clerk of the City & County of
Honolulu,

Respondents.

GLEN I. TAKAHASHI, CITY CLERK FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY

OF HONOLULU'S RESPONSE TO COURT'S JANUARY 8, 2019 ORDER

Respondent GLEN I. TAKAHASHI ("City Clerk"), in his official capacity as the

CITY CLERK OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU, by his attorneys,

DONNA Y. L. LEONG, Corporation Counsel, and DUANE W. H. PANG and ERNEST H.

NOMURA, Deputies Corporation Counsel, submits this response to the Court's

January 8, 2019 Order.

The Court requested a "detailed explanation of the factual circumstances and

procedures that were actually followed by the United States Postal Service and the City

Clerk regarding the handling and collection of the absentee mail-in ballots from the

United States Postal Service on the day of the general election (November 6,2018),

including but not limited to" the following:

1. The "time(s) of the collection and pickup of the absentee ballots."

The City Clerk respectfully refers the Court to the attached Declaration of Glen I.

Takahashi ("Takahashi Decl.") at III 3 through 9.

2. A "description of the procedures that were actually used to ensure

that any mail-in absentee return envelopes received, collected, or
`swept' by the United States Postal Service after 6:00 p.m. on
November 6, 2018 were set aside and not counted in accordance with
law."

The City Clerk respectfully refers the Court to the attached Declaration of Glen I.

Takahashi at 1111 7 through 10.

3. "Whether any absentee mail-in return envelopes received, collected or

`swept' by the United States Postal Service after 6:00 p.m. on
November 6, 2018 were not set aside and subsequently counted."

The City Clerk respectfully refers the Court to the attached Declaration of Glen I.

Takahashi at 11116 through 9.

The City Clerk respectfully submits that the Office of the City Clerk complied with

applicable statutes and administrative rules governing the collection of mail absentee

return envelopes related to Council District IV and other contests that occurred on

November 6, 2018. The City Clerk relies on the processes and procedures used by the

United States Postal Service ("USPS") in implementing the agreement between the City

Clerk and the USPS as set forth in the Declaration of Glen I. Takahashi at 117, covering

the USPS's receipt, collection and/or "sweeping" of its facilities and system as of 6:00

p.m. on November 6, 2018, so as to ensure that all mail absentee return envelopes in

the USPS facilities as of 6:00 p.m. November 6, 2018 were picked up at the

prearranged times for processing by the City Clerk, and ultimately by the State Office of
Elections. The practical administrative reality of the receipt, collection and pickup of

mail absentee return envelopes in the election process requires the City Clerk to work

cooperatively and in conjunction with the USPS in precisely the manner in which both

the City Clerk and USPS did in this election cycle and in past election cycles.

To hold otherwise would lead to an unjust result. If, for example, City Clerk

personnel were to have had an accident on the way to pick up mail absentee return

envelopes at 5:30 p.m., but arrive after 6:00 p.m., thousands of voters' vote would be

invalidated.

The end result of Petitioner's argument before this Court is disenfranchising the

thousands of voters who deposited absentee envelopes with USPS that were not

physically and literally taken into custody and possession by the City Clerk by 6:00 p.m.

on November 6, 2018. This is an unjust result. This Court has not been presented with

any evidence of "provable fraud," Haw. Rev. Stat. § 11-172 (Supp. 2017), so as to

entitle Petitioner the remedies under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 11-174.5(b). See also Waikiki v.

Nag°, 2014 WL 4251240 (Haw. 2014) (absent specific facts or actual information of

mistakes or errors, allegations of "noncompliance, possible conspiracy and corruption

by election officials" are insufficient to change the results of an election).

The petition should be rejected and denied.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii, January 10, 2019.

DONNA Y. L. LEONG
Corporation Counsel

/s/ Ernest H. Nomura

DUANE W. H. PANG
ERNEST H. NOMURA
Deputies Corporation Counsel

Attorneys for Respondent

GLEN TAKAHASHI, in his official capacity as
City Clerk of the City and County of Honolulu
 NO. SCEC-18-0000909

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAII

THOMAS WATERS, a/k/a TOMMY ORIGINAL PROCEEDINGS

WATERS,

Petitioner,

VS.

SCOTT NAGO, Chief Elections Officer;

STATE OF HAWAII OFFICE OF
ELECTIONS; and GLEN TAKAHASHI, in
his official capacity as the City Clerk of
the City & County of Honolulu,

Respondents.

DECLARATION OF GLEN I. TAKAHASHI

Glen I. Takahashi declares as follows:

1. I am the City Clerk of the City and County of Honolulu, State of Hawaii.

2. I make this declaration under the laws of the State of Hawaii and the

United States and under penalty of perjury. This declaration is based on personal

knowledge, unless otherwise indicated.

3. Prior to the election day of November 6, 2018, and consistent with past

election cycles, the Office of the City Clerk ("City Clerk") and the United States Postal

Service ("USPS") made arrangements for the pickup by City Clerk personnel of mail

absentee return envelopes ("absentee envelopes") received at the USPS Airport facility

at three (3) specified times on November 6, 2018 ("election day"): approximately 9:00

a.m. ("9 a.m. pickup"), 6:30 p.m. ("6:30 pickup"), and 7:30 p.m. ("7:30 pickup").
 4. The 9 a.m. pickup time was an already-established time for City Clerk

personnel to pick up absentee envelopes from the USPS Airport facility. City Clerk

personnel picked up absentee envelopes for the 2018 election on a daily basis

(excluding Sundays) from October 17, 2018, through November 6, 2018. The 6:30

pickup and the 7:30 p.m. pickup were additional pick up times on election day in order

to ensure that as many absentee envelopes as possible are retrieved for processing

within the parameters of the law.

5. There is a window at the USPS Airport facility that is specifically dedicated

for USPS personnel to set aside the absentee envelopes for pick up by City Clerk

personnel.

6. On election day, the 9 a.m. pickup comprised of absentee envelopes

aggregated and then sent to the USPS Airport facility from USPS Oahu facilities from

the last USPS mail pickup by City Clerk personnel that occurred at approximately 9:00

a.m. on November 5, 2018, to approximately 9:00 a.m. on November 6, 2018.

7. As detailed in the Declaration of Rex Quidilla dated December 6, 2018, on

September 28, 2018, Election Administrator Rex Quidilla, Assistant Elections

Administrator Michael Sunouchi, and I met with USPS Oahu representatives, District

Manager Greg Wolny, Business Mail Entry Manager Iris Sobol, Supervisor Shari

Tsukano and other USPS staff to discuss USPS's collection and handling of the

absentee envelopes on election day. Consistent with past election cycles, City Clerk

and USPS agreed on the following election day procedures:

a. USPS would conduct a "sweep" of its Airport facilities at 6:00 p.m. to collect

absentee envelopes received at the USPS Airport facility as of 6:00 p.m. for pick

up by City Clerk personnel at the 6:30 pickup;

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 b. If there were any additional absentee envelopes that were received at the

USPS Airport facility as of 6:00 p.m. but that had not been given to City Clerk

personnel at the 6:30 pickup, City Clerk personnel would pick up those additional

absentee envelopes at the 7:30 pickup; and

c. City Clerk personnel would not pick up any absentee envelopes after the 7:30

pickup on election day.

8. On November 6, 2018, City Clerk personnel picked up absentee

envelopes at the USPS Airport facility at approximately 9:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

9. On November 6, 2018, City Clerk personnel received a call from USPS

personnel at approximately 7:00 p.m., in which USPS personnel informed City Clerk

personnel that additional absentee envelopes were now ready for pickup for the 7:30

pickup time. At approximately 7:30 p.m., City Clerk personnel picked up absentee

envelopes from the USPS Airport facility.

10. Absentee envelopes that were not included in the 9:00 a.m., 6:30 p.m., or

7:30 p.m. pickups on November 6, 2018, have been retrieved by City Clerk personnel

and set aside by the City Clerk, but have not been provided to the State Office of

Elections. The City Clerk continues to have possession of these absentee envelopes.

To date, there are 734 absentee envelopes that City Clerk retrieved after November 6,

2018.

11. The following is a summary of the absentee envelopes picked up by City

Clerk personnel on election day at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.:

Island-wide District 4 only

USPS Airport 6:30 PM
pickup 1,093 165
USPS Airport 7:30 PM
pickup 1,247 185
Total 2,340 350

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 12. At approximately 12:00 a.m. on November 7, 2018, the City Clerk

contacted the State Office of Elections to arrange for the pick-up of the absentee

envelopes that the City Clerk picked up from USPS at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., as well

as the absentee envelopes that were dropped off at polling places.

13. By way of clarification, paragraph 11 of the Declaration of Rex Quidilla

dated December 6, 2018, should read as follows:

"City Clerk received a total of 8,120 mail absentee return envelopes from
the OE and the 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. pick-ups from the United State
Postal Service, of which 1,201 were from registered voters in Council
District IV. City Clerk thereafter validated the signatures on those return
envelopes, resulting in 8,088 valid mail absentee return envelopes, of
which 1,189 were from registered voters in Council District IV. City Clerk
contacted OE for pickup of those return ballot envelopes, which occurred
at approximately 12:30 a.m. on November 7, 2018."

14. I am currently in Washington, D.C. attending a conference. I have

reached out to the USPS Honolulu District to request that one of its officers submit a

declaration in this matter to provide this Court with information relative to the USPS's

handling of mail absentee return envelopes for the November 6, 2018 election. I was

informed that USPS would not be able to submit a declaration in response to the Court's

order of January 8, 2019, given the Court's timeframe and deadline. I was also not

provided with any indication such a declaration could be made.

DATED: Washington, D.C., January 10, 2019.