KRISTEN K. SOUZA, also known as KANANI SOUZA, Plaintiff, vs. SCOTT T. NAGO, in his official capacity as Chief Elections Officer, Office of Elections, State of Hawai‘i, STATE OF HAWAI‘I OFFICE OF ELECTIONS, CHADD KADOTA, in his official capacity as Acting City Clerk, City and County of Honolulu, and REX QUIDILLA, in his official capacity as the Elections Administrator, City and County of Honolulu, and SHEILA MEDEIROS, Defendants.

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Supreme Court Courtroom
Ali‘iōlani Hale, 2nd Floor
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Honolulu, HI 96813

The oral argument will also be livestreamed for public viewing via the Judiciary’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/hawaiicourts and ‘Ōlelo at olelo.org/tv-schedule/, subject to ‘Ōlelo’s programming availability.

Attorney for Plaintiff KRISTEN K. SOUZA also known as Kanani Souza:
     Thomas M. Otake

Attorneys for Defendants SCOTT T. NAGO, in his official capacity as Chief Elections Officer, State of Hawai‘i, STATE OF HAWAI‘I OFFICE OF ELECTIONS:
     Randall S. Nishiyama and Michael A. Chambrella, Skyler Cruz, and Kendall J. Moser, Deputy Attorneys General

    Attorneys for Defendants CHADD KADOTA, in his official capacity as Acting City Clerk, City and County of Honolulu, and REX QUIDILLA, in his official capacity as the Elections Administrator, City and County of Honolulu:
     Duane W.H. Pang and Dawn Spurlin, Deputies Corporation Counsel

Self-Represented Defendant Sheila Medeiros

NOTE:     Certificate of Recusal by Chief Justice Vladimir P. Devens, filed 08/25/26.

NOTE:     Order assigning Associate Judge Sonja M.P. McCullen in place of Devens, C.J., recused, and Associate Judge Kimberly T. Guidry, due to a vacancy, filed 08/25/26.

NOTE:     Order joining Sheila Medeiros as a defendant, filed 08/26/26.

NOTE:     Order setting Oral Argument for 09/02/26 at 10:00 a.m., filed 08/26/26.

NOTE:  Amended Memo of Setting dated 08/31/26, is amended for the purpose of:
          -Adding in Counsel representing Plaintiff Kristen Souza
          -Adding in additional Deputy Attorneys General representing Defendants Scott T. Nago, et al.

COURT:  McKenna, Acting C.J., Eddins, and Ginoza, JJ., and Intermediate Court of Appeals Judge McCullen, in place of Devens, C.J., recused, and Intermediate Court of Appeals Judge Guidry, assigned by reason of vacancy.

Brief Description:

This case is an election contest by Kanani Souza, a candidate for State Representative in District 43.  After the district’s Republican primary ended in an apparent 842-842 tie, the Office of Elections decided the tie “by lot” per Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 11-157.  Candidate Shiela Medeiros was selected in the draw.

Souza challenges the result on five grounds:

1. the ballot accounting showed an overage of two ballots in one precinct, which in a tied race could affect the outcome;
2. the Chief Election Officer broke the tie by a method that didn’t qualify as a “lot” under HRS § 11-157;
3. the tie-breaking method was a rule the Office of Elections adopted without rulemaking, contrary to HRS Chapter 91 and Green Party of Hawaii v. Nago, 138 Hawai‘i 228, 378 P.3d 944 (2016);
4. the tie-breaking method deprived candidates and voters equal and impartial treatment, violating the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and Article I, § 5 of the Hawai‘i Constitution; and
5. HRS § 11-157 violates Article III § 4 of the Hawai‘i Constitution because it requires a legislator to be selected, not elected when an election ends in a tie.