Hawaii Elections Commission debates minute corrections, OIP complaint after members dispute record

At a public meeting of the Elections Commission, commissioners spent substantial time debating corrections to previous meeting minutes and whether to respond to an Office of Information Practices complaint alleging omissions from the written record.

The dispute centered on the December 18 draft minutes and earlier meeting minutes. Commissioner Aquino asked that the minutes record that Chief Election Officer Scott Nago had been asked whether he had authority to change the voting method from mail-in to same-day in-person precinct voting and that "he answered no," adding that the answer was visible in the recording but not reflected in the written minutes. Commissioner Aquino said the omission denied the public a "true reflection" of what happened and cited HRS section 92-9, which requires minutes to reflect matters discussed and the views of participants.

Why it matters: minutes are the public…