Public testimony urges firing of Hawaii chief election officer; commissioners vote against removal

The Elections Commission opened its public comment period for the chief election officer’s performance evaluation and received extended testimony criticizing Chief Election Officer Scott Nago’s stewardship of state elections and urging his removal.

Why it matters: The chief election officer administers statewide elections; public confidence in election management can affect turnout and trust in results. The commission has statutory responsibility to hold a public hearing and consider performance when reappointment or discipline is at issue.

Multiple speakers described security and chain-of-custody concerns and urged commissioners to remove Nago. "I would like to see the commissioners take a motion in addition to an extremely poor evaluation of his performance ... I would like them to take a motion to fire Scott Nago and immediately start advertising and interviewing for his replacement," testifier Andy Crossland said. Jamie Detwiler, a certified election observer, told commissioners she observed gaps in ballot chain-of-custody documentation and said she would rate Nago’s performance "poor." Nolan Chang cited what he described as multiple violations of administrative rules governing chain of custody and asked the commission to require transfer documents and recount envelopes.

Commissioners debated whether to move the performance discussion into executive session to allow a private evaluation with the officer present. The motion to enter executive session failed for lack of the required six votes; several commissioners opposed, preferring a public evaluation. Chair Mike Curtis asked whether Nago would appear in public if the motion failed; Nago indicated he would not.

After that, Commissioner Cushni moved to remove Scott Nago from his position; a second was recorded. The motion went to roll call: Commissioners Adrian, Aquino, Cushni and Krishni voted yes; Commissioners Kawada, McAdam, Osterkamp, Young and Chair Curtis voted no. The motion to remove Nago was defeated.

Commissioner statements and public testimony focused heavily on chain-of-custody documentation, signature verification procedures and audit methods that rely on ballot images. Several speakers urged a return to same-day, in-person precinct voting or stronger chain-of-custody protocols. The commission did not take further disciplinary action during the meeting.

Ending: The motion to remove the chief election officer failed. Commissioners approved a separate procedural motion to request chain-of-custody documentation from counties (see separate article), and commissioners discussed possible legislative recommendations to address election procedures.

Direct quotes in this article come from public testimony and roll-call remarks recorded in the public meeting transcript and are attributed to specific speakers.