Judiciary committee adopts resolution urging presidential administration to follow federal court orders after testimony on automatic voter registration

The Senate Committee on Judiciary on Wednesday adopted a substituted draft (SD1) of Senate Concurrent Resolution 158 urging the presidential administration to accept and follow federal court orders, the committee chair announced after a short public testifying period.

The measure drew broad written and spoken support from civic and advocacy groups, and a pair of public commenters used the hearing to highlight different concerns: one speaker representing the Democratic Party of Hawaii said the state should “stand with the rule of law,” while another warned of perceived vulnerabilities tied to automatic voter registration.

The resolution matters because it is a formal statement from the committee asking the executive branch to comply with federal court rulings. Judith Mills Wong of the League of Women Voters of Hawaii and multiple other organizational representatives registered support for SCR 158; the Democratic Party of…