Kim v. State of Hawai'i Office of Elections ( 2022 )

Electronically Filed
Supreme Court
SCEC-XX-XXXXXXX
29-AUG-2022
02:02 PM
Dkt. 14 FFCL
SCEC-XX-XXXXXXX
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I
RICHARD Y. KIM, Plaintiff,
vs.
STATE OF HAWAI#I OFFICE OF ELECTIONS; and SCOTT T. NAGO,
Chief Election Officer, Defendants.
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND JUDGMENT
(By: Recktenwald, C.J., Nakayama, McKenna, Wilson, and Eddins, JJ.)
On August 23, 2022, Plaintiff Richard Y. Kim (Kim)
submitted a document entitled “Election Objection” (complaint),
which was filed as an election contest complaint. On August 26,
2022, Defendants State of Hawai#i Office of Elections (Office of
Elections) and Scott T. Nago, Chief Election Officer (Chief
Election Officer) (collectively, Defendants) filed a motion to
dismiss Kim’s complaint or, in the alternative, for summary
judgment. Upon consideration of the complaint, the documents
attached and submitted in support, and motion to dismiss or for
summary judgment, and having heard this matter without oral
argument, we enter the following findings of fact, conclusions of
law, and judgment.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Kim was one of seven Democratic Party candidates
for the Office of Governor in the 2022 General Election.
2. The Primary Election was held on August 13, 2022.
3. As provided by the complaint, the result of this
primary election race was, as follows:
Green, Josh 157,476 (60.6%)
Cayetano, Vicky 52,237 (20.1%)
Kahele, Kai 37,540 (14.4%)
Tanabe, Van 1,232 (0.5%)
Kim, Richard 985 (0.4%)
Bourgoin, David L. (Duke) 589 (0.2%)
Lewman, Clyde McClain (Mac) 246 (0.1%)
Blank votes 3,673 (1.4%)
Over votes 342 (0.1%)
4. On August 23, 2022, Kim filed a complaint
asserting “a due process violation of Hawai#i Administrative
Rules [(HAR)] § 3-177-704” because the Office of Elections did
not provide proper advanced notice to the public and interested
persons to observe and inspect the voting process, including the
testing of the voting machines.
5. Kim also asserts:
a. A visual inspection of the ballots is
necessary due to possible “rigg[ing]” of the vote count because
he received 985 votes, or 0.4% of the democratic votes, which is
less than his total received in 2018;
b. Seemingly related to his vote count rigging
assertion, a conflict of interest exists between himself and the
Chief Election Officer due to his 2018 complaint filed in Civil
No. 18-1-0878-06 GWBC; and
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c. Vote counting by the computer must have been
compromised by (a) moving a decimal such that he received only 1%
of the actual votes he received on the ballots or (b) improperly
transferring 99% of his votes to Lieutenant Governor Josh Green
(Green).
6. Kim appears to assert he “should have been the
winner” if such compromised vote counting occurred, or at least
be deemed to have more votes than the 985 he received during the
2022 Primary Election. According to Kim, he “should have
received 985[,]000 votes, 38.7% of the democratic votes, 23.2%
for Josh Green, respectively.” In support, he points to the
following evidence:
a. His campaign website attracted 8,967 people,
with over 32,000 views on his 706 posts since 2017.
b. His follower count on Facebook of 1,400 is
higher than Democratic Party Governor candidate Vicky Cayetano’s
follower count.
c. His approach to addressing the COVID-19
pandemic is different from Green’s approach.
d. Media poll numbers should have been different
if Kim were included in those polls.
e. Other polls indicate he should have had more
than 0.4% of the primary election vote in his race.
f. He has thrown “shaka blessings” to “tens of
thousands of passing cars” while sign waving and each time he
received “roughly 5-30% honking (on average)” and other feedback
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he perceives to be a positive response to him.
g. Voter suppression “repeatedly happened”
because a scheduled forum that included Kim was cancelled when
Green would not attend, he was blocked and unblocked from the
Facebook page for Lieutenant Governor allegedly by Green, and the
Star-Advertiser blocked him from commenting on the live program,
“Spotlight Hawaii.”
7. Kim also asserts he has “shown and set forth
sufficient reasons for triggering the inspection of voting
records and election process[es] including voting machines
testing,” and, if necessary, for correcting and/or changing
decisions in the 2022 Democratic Gubernatorial Primary Election.
He thus requests an order allowing him to inspect ten sets of one
thousand democratic votes of his random choice and selection, and
count them through a voting machine to confirm, or vice versa.
Kim claims this inspection “may likely take less than a few hours
with minimum number of individuals’ involvement in the
process[,]” but then adds that if “his inspection” shows that he
received “many more than 4 in every 1000 democratic ballots of
his random selections[,]” then all votes on O#ahu be counted “if
any only after the Court’s verification of such discrepancies is
necessary.” He then requests that, upon this court’s approval,
the Office of Elections must complete recounting of all of the
democratic votes in all other islands “only after recalibration
and properly retesting the machines in presence of sufficient
number of independent observers and/or further[] hand counting
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them all if such discrepancies occur.”
8. Defendants assert that the complaint should be
dismissed with prejudice or summary judgment be granted.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. When reviewing a request to dismiss a complaint,
the court’s review “is based on the contents of the complaint,
the allegations of which [the court] accept[s] as true and
construe[s] in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.
Dismissal is improper unless it appears beyond doubt that the
plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which
would entitle him to relief.” Casumpang v. ILWU, Local 142, 94
Hawai#i 330, 337, 13 P.3d 1235, 1242 (2000) (quotation marks and
citation omitted).
2. A complaint challenging the results of a primary
election fails to state a claim unless the plaintiff demonstrates
errors, mistakes, or irregularities that would change the outcome
of the election. See HRS § 11-172 (Supp. 2021); Funakoshi v.
King, 65 Haw. 312, 317, 651 P.2d 912, 915 (1982).
3. A plaintiff challenging a primary election must
show that he or she has actual information of mistakes or errors
sufficient to change the election result. Funakoshi, 65 Haw. at
316-17, 651 P.2d at 915.
4. In order for a complaint to be legally sufficient,
it must “show[] that the specific acts and conduct of which they
complain would have had the effect of changing the results of the
primary election[.]” Elkins v. Ariyoshi, 56 Haw. 47, 49, 527
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P.2d 236, 237 (1974).
5. When considering a request to dismiss a complaint,
the court need not accept conclusory or formulaic recitations on
the legal effects of the events alleged. Kealoha v. Machado, 131
Hawai#i 62, 74, 315 P.3d 213, 225 (2013).
6. The court’s consideration of matters outside the
pleadings converts a motion to dismiss into one for summary
judgment. Foytik v. Chandler, 88 Hawai#i 307, 313, 966 P.2d 619,
625 (1998).
7. Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no
genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is
entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Estate of Doe v. Paul
Revere Ins. Group, 86 Hawai#i 262, 269-70, 948 P.2d 1103, 1110-
11 (1997).
8. A fact is material if proof of that fact would
have the effect of establishing or refuting an essential element
of a cause of action asserted by one of the parties. Winfrey v.
GGP Ala Moana LLC, 130 Hawai#i 262, 271, 308 P.3d 891, 900
(2013).
9. On a motion for summary judgment, this court must
view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving
party. Winfrey, 130 Hawai#i at 271, 308 P.3d at 900.
10. However, this “court is permitted to draw only
those inferences of which the evidence is reasonably susceptible
and it may not resort to speculation.” Id. (quoting Pioneer Mill
Co. v. Dow, 90 Hawai#i 289, 295, 978 P.2d 727, 733 (1999)); see
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Jenkins v. Liberty Newspapers Ltd. P’ship, 89 Hawai#i 254, 269,
971 P.3d 1089, 1104 (1999) (“Accordingly, there being no factual
basis, other than speculation, upon which a jury could have found
that the alleged defamation was the legal cause of any claimed
loss, we hold that the circuit court properly granted [the]
motion for summary judgment as to the negligence count of [the]
complaint.” (Brackets added)).
11. An election contest cannot be based upon mere
belief or indefinite information. Tataii v. Cronin, 119 Hawai#i
337, 339, 198 P.3d 124, 126 (2008); Akaka v. Yoshina, 84 Hawai#i
383, 387-88, 935 P.2d 98, 102-03 (1997). For example, it is not
sufficient that a plaintiff points to a “poorly run and
inadequately supervised election process” that suggests “room for
abuse” or “possibilities of fraud.” Akaka, 84 Hawai#i at 388,
935 P.2d at 103.
12. HRS § 11-172 governs election contests and
provides in relevant part: “With respect to any election, any
candidate, or qualified political party directly interested, or
any thirty voters of any election district, may file a complaint
in the supreme court. The complaint shall set forth any cause or
causes, such as but not limited to, provable fraud, overages, or
underages, that could cause a difference in the election
results.”
13. HRS § 11-173.5 (2009 & Supp. 2021) provides for,
among other matters, time requirements for primary election
contests for cause to be filed in the supreme court, as well as
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the remedy allowed to be provided in primary election contests.
14. The remedy provided by HRS § 11-173.5(b) of having
the court decide which candidate was nominated or elected is the
only remedy that can be given for primary election contests.
Funakoshi, 65 Haw. at 316, 651 P.2d at 914.
15. As such, allowing Kim to visually inspect primary
election ballots is not a remedy authorized by HRS § 11-173.5(b).
See Funakoshi, 65 Haw. at 316, 651 P.2d at 914; Elkins, 56 Haw.
at 49, 527 P.2d at 237.
16. Based on this court’s review of the evidence
submitted in support of his complaint, there is no evidence or
reasonable inference drawn from the evidence submitted that there
was computer programming manipulation on his name on the
democratic ballots such that he received only 1% of the actual
votes he should have had. This claim thus amounts to speculation
and does not support his assertion that he should be declared the
winner. See Winfrey, 130 Hawai#i at 271, 308 P.3d at 900.
17. It is similarly speculative to construe (1) Kim’s
different approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) media poll
numbers without Kim, (3) a cancelled forum, (4) being blocked
from commenting on the Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii,” and
(5) being blocked and unblocked from the Lieutenant Governor’s
Facebook page to mean Kim received more votes than reported by
the Office of Elections, let alone enough votes to overcome the
amount of votes that Green received. See Winfrey, 130 Hawai#i at
271, 308 P.3d at 900; Akaka, 84 Hawai#i at 388, 935 P.2d at 103.
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18. It is not reasonable to infer that Kim’s (1)
campaign website statistics, (2) Facebook follower count, and (3)
throwing “shaka blessings” to passing cars while sign waving
shows that Kim received more votes than Green in the primary
election because none of the evidence submitted supports an
inference that any visitor to his campaign website, Facebook
follower, or person he waved to while sign waving represents a
person who is registered to vote in the State of Hawai#i’s 2022
Primary Election and voted for Kim. See Winfrey, 130 Hawai#i at
271, 308 P.3d at 900; Akaka, 84 Hawai#i at 388, 935 P.2d at 103.
19. It is also not reasonable to infer that Kim
received more votes than Green based on the results of a poll
attached to Kim’s complaint because the poll itself shows Green
with a higher percentage of voters than Kim. See Winfrey, 130
Hawai#i at 271, 308 P.3d at 900; Akaka, 84 Hawai#i at 388, 935
P.2d at 103.
20. Kim’s assertion that he should be declared the
winner is thus based on speculation or unreasonable inferences
from the evidence submitted in support of his complaint (i.e.,
the exhibits attached to the complaint). See HRS § 11-173.5(b)
(requiring this court to hear the primary election contest “in a
summary manner” and “shall cause the evidence to be reduced to
writing”).
21. Accordingly, there being no genuine issue of
material fact related to Kim’s election contest, we find and
conclude in favor of Defendants as a matter of law.
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JUDGMENT
Based upon the foregoing findings of fact and
conclusions of law, judgment is entered in favor of Defendants.
Josh Green received the highest number of votes and his name
shall be placed on the ballot as the Democratic Party candidate
for the Office of Governor in the 2022 General Election.
The clerk of the supreme court shall forthwith serve a
certified copy of this judgment on the chief election officer in
accordance with HRS § 11-173.5(b).
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, August 29, 2022.
/s/ Mark E. Recktenwald
/s/ Paula A. Nakayama
/s/ Sabrina S. McKenna
/s/ Michael D. Wilson
/s/ Todd W. Eddins
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