Electronically Filed Supreme Court SCEC-XX-XXXXXXX 20-DEC-2024 02:45 PM Dkt. 43 FFCL
SCEC-XX-XXXXXXX
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAIʻI ________________________________________________________________
RALPH S. CUSHNIE and more than THIRTY VOTERS, Plaintiffs,
vs.
SCOTT NAGO, as Chief Elections Officer for the Office of Elections, State of Hawaiʻi; and JADE FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk for the County of Kauaʻi, Defendants. ________________________________________________________________
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND JUDGMENT (By: Recktenwald, C.J., McKenna, Eddins, Ginoza, and Devens, JJ.)
This 2024 General Election contest is about overages. An
overage occurs when the amount of ballots recorded in the
official election results is more than what “documented usage”
indicates.
Plaintiffs Ralph Cushnie (Cushnie) and thirty-two other
voters (collectively, Plaintiffs) assert there is an overage in
mail ballots that are sufficient in quantity to cause a
difference in the results of the Kauaʻi County Councilmember race
in the 2024 General Election. However, the data that Plaintiffs rely on for “documented
usage” contains a disclaimer that expressly states that the
figures represent a manual count of envelopes and not the number
of ballots counted. It is unreasonable to infer a ballot count
from this data due to this disclaimer.
Plaintiffs’ December 12, 2024 Memorandum in Support also
concedes that there is a difference of only 39 ballots when
comparing Plaintiffs’ 27,036 envelope amount that was
transferred to the state counting center and the 27,075 total
mail ballots from the official results of the 2024 General
Election in Kauaʻi County. This 39 ballot difference is less
than the 108 vote difference between the seventh place and
eighth place candidates in the 2024 General Election race for
Kauaʻi County Councilmember.
We thus enter the following findings, conclusions, and
Judgment in favor of the State and County, and against
Plaintiffs. We also deny Plaintiffs’ motion for
interrogatories.
I. FINDINGS OF FACT
According to the final printout, the 2024 General Election
results for the Kauaʻi County Councilmember race were:
1. CARVALHO, Bernard P., Jr. 15,435 7.2% 2. RAPOZO, Mel 14,403 6.7% 3. KANESHIRO, Arryl J. 13,049 6.1%
2 4. BULOSAN, Addison 12,385 5.8% 5. COWDEN, Felicia 12,325 5.8% 6. KUALII, KipuKai 12,276 5.7% 7. HOLLAND, Fern Anuenue 12,041 5.6% KAGAWA, Ross 11,933 5.6% DECOSTA, Billy D. 9,977 4.7% APILADO, Abe, Jr. (Aba-G) 5,964 2.8% KEAHIOLALO, W. Butch 5,202 2.4% CUMMINGS, Sherri 4,160 1.9% NELSON, Jacquelyn (Jakki) 3,386 1.6% THOMAS, Bart 3,296 1.5% Blank Votes: 77,696 36.4% Over Votes: 62 0.0%
A voter may vote for up to seven candidates in this race.
Numbers are added to the above results to clearly identify the
top seven candidates.
There is a 108 vote difference between the seventh-place
candidate (Fern Anuenue Holland) and eighth place candidate
(Ross Kagawa).
There were a total 27,075 mail ballots that were recorded
in the final printout of the official 2024 General Election
results for Kauaʻi County.
On November 25, 2024, Plaintiffs filed an Election
Complaint (Complaint) asserting there is an “overage of 3,772
voted ballots” that caused a difference in the 2024 General
Election results for the Kauaʻi County Councilmember race.
Plaintiffs assert that a correct result cannot be determined for
3 this election “due to the provable overage,” and this court’s
Judgment should invalidate the results of the Kauaʻi County
Councilmember race.
Plaintiffs submitted an information request under the
Uniform Information Practices Act to the Kauaʻi County Elections
Division for chain-of-custody documentation relating to ballot
collections and handling for the 2024 General Election.
Based on the information provided by County, Plaintiffs
assert that the “documented usage for voted ballot envelopes was
recorded as 23,303, and is the total number of voted ballots
submitted by mail for the county.” Plaintiffs assert their
23,303 number constitutes the “documented usage” for purposes of
calculating an overage of mail ballots pursuant to Hawaiʻi
Revised Statutes (HRS) § 11-153(a) (Supps. 2019 & 2021), Hawaiʻi
Administrative Rules (HAR) § 3-177-750 (eff. 2020), and HAR § 3-
177-769(b) (eff. 2020).
The documents attached to the Complaint that support
Plaintiffs’ 23,303 number all contain the following “Disclaimer”
at the bottom of each page:
Figures on this form represent a manual count of envelopes - not the number of ballots counted. The manual counts were made for internal purposes to track election progress with the understanding that it would not match official election results.
Subtracting Plaintiffs’ 23,303 figure from the total 27,075
mail ballots in Kauaʻi County results in an overage of 3,772 mail
4 ballots. Plaintiffs assert that this 3,772 overage amount
“cause[d] a difference in the election results for the county
council race for the County of Kauai” because the “overage of
3,772 voted ballots exceeds the reported margin between
candidates for the top nine candidates” in the Kauaʻi County
Plaintiffs’ Complaint was signed by Cushnie and includes
the signatures of Cushnie and thirty-two other voters from
“Kauai District 17” under the following affirmation:
I am one of more than thirty voters from Kauai District 17 and am filing this election complaint pursuant to the Constitution for the State of Hawaii and Hawaii Revised Statutes for redress of grievances regarding the 2024 Hawaii General Election and as per the accompanying filing.
Motions to dismiss or for summary judgment were filed by
Defendant Jade Fountain-Tanigawa, County Clerk for the County of
Kauaʻi (County), on December 4, 2024, and Defendant Scott Nago,
Chief Elections Officer for the Office of Elections (the State
or Nago), on December 5, 2024.
County’s motion asserts that the data that Plaintiffs used
to calculate the 3,772 overage ballot amount is wrong because
Plaintiffs’ data is based on ballot envelopes rather than
ballots themselves, and the County “forms capturing ballot
envelope counts are not used to calculate overages and underages
pursuant to HRS § 11-153.” Pointing to the Disclaimer at the
5 bottom of the County forms, County states that its forms
capturing ballot envelope counts are used by County to
approximate the quantity of ballot envelopes collected and the quantity still outstanding and was meant to aide with projecting staffing needs and scheduling of staff overtime, with the understanding that the envelope counts would not equal the quantity of ballots counted and reported in official election results.
County also asserts that Plaintiffs miscalculated the
ballot envelope amount due to missing data, and provided the
missing data through Exhibit A to County’s motion.
The State’s motion to dismiss or for summary judgment
asserts: (A) the Complaint should be dismissed for lack of
standing pursuant to Cordery v. Ige, SCEC-XX-XXXXXXX, because
Cushnie is the only Plaintiff, or voter, in this election
contest; (B) Plaintiffs disregard the disclaimer language on the
County forms they rely on; (C) Plaintiffs also disregard return
identification envelopes data that is also attached to their
Complaint showing that 26,954 return identification envelopes
were transferred to counting centers between October 26, 2024
and November 6, 2024; and (D) the State’s data shows there are a
total of 25 overage mail ballots in Kauaʻi County, and this 25
overage mail ballots is not enough to cause a difference in the
results of the 2024 General Election race for Kauaʻi County
Councilmember because the difference in votes between the
seventh-place candidate and eighth-place candidate is 108 votes.
6 The State’s 25 overage mail ballots is reflected by the
following table:
The State’s documented usage for mail ballots adds the
amount of mail ballots with the amount of electronic ballots,
and then reduces the sum by the amount of invalidated mail and
electronic ballots. In other words: mail ballots + electronic
ballots - invalidated mail and electronic ballots = documented
usage.
Overage and underage is calculated on a precinct-by-
precinct basis by comparing the documented usage (Adj. Mail
Turnout in the above table) with the amount of precinct turnout
for mail ballots (Prec. Report in the table).
Nago’s Declaration states that the envelopes remain sealed
and are not opened until the envelopes are transferred to a
state-operated counting center. The envelopes are then opened
at the state-operated counting center. 7 Plaintiffs filed an opposition to County’s motion on
December 5, 2024, and an opposition to the State’s motion on
December 9, 2024.
Plaintiffs’ opposition to County’s motion: (A) asserts
Exhibit A of County’s motion is unreliable as evidence because
“chain of custody has been broken for the handling of 3,004
voted ballot envelopes reportedly received by the county from
the US Postal Service and the validity of this new entry cannot
be verified”; (B) continues to assert that “documented usage” is
calculated by using the ballot envelope count in the County-
provided forms with the Disclaimer; and (C) asserts there is an
overage of 442 ballots rather than the 3,772 ballots asserted in
their Complaint based on Exhibit A of County’s motion.
Each page of Exhibit A of County’s motion includes the same
Disclaimer quoted above.
Plaintiffs’ opposition to the State’s motion: (A) attaches
a list of addresses for the thirty-three voters in this general
election contest; (B) asserts that the State has “frustrated all
efforts to retrieve chain of custody documentation”; (C)
continues to assert that Kauaʻi County chain-of-custody
documentation is the only physical verification of the quantity
of mail in ballots collected and, based on Kauaʻi County data,
there is an overage of 442 mail ballots.
8 On December 4, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a motion for
interrogatories that seeks answers to questions concerning
certification of Councilmembers prior to the resolution of this
election contest. According to Plaintiffs, the 2024 Kauaʻi
County Councilmember election is a contested election and cannot
yet be certified.
Additional arguments were filed by County and Plaintiffs on
On December 10, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a “Memorandum in
Support of Opposition to Motion to Dismiss/Summary Judgment
Pursuant to HRCP Rule 7.” Plaintiffs state that County informed
them there were 219 uncured envelopes in the 2024 General
Election, and assert that the 219 uncured envelopes constitute
219 more overage ballots that could have caused a difference in
the Kauaʻi County Councilmember race in the 2024 General
Election.
On December 12, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a second Memorandum
in Support that again asserts the 661 overage mail ballots based
on the County forms, the uncured envelopes, and now Nago’s
“attestation to ballots transferred, and the States Summary
Report for the County of Kauai.” Notably, Plaintiffs’ December
12 Memorandum now says that a total of 27,036 envelopes were
transferred from County to the State counting center.
9 II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
A. Standing
When asked to decide whether a litigant is asserting
legally recognized interests, personal and peculiar to that
person, “we have spoken of standing[.]” Tax Found. of Hawaiʻi v.
State, 144 Hawaiʻi 175, 191, 439 P.3d 127, 143 (2019).
Standing is that aspect of justiciability focusing on the party seeking a forum rather than on the issues he wants adjudicated. And the crucial inquiry in its determination is “whether the plaintiff has ‘alleged such a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy’ as to warrant his invocation of . . . (the court’s) jurisdiction and to justify exercise of the court’s remedial powers on his behalf.”
Life of the Land v. Land Use Comm’n, 63 Haw. 166, 172, 623 P.2d
431, 438 (1981) (quoting Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 498-99
(1975)).
Standing requirements may be tempered or prescribed by
legislative declarations policy. Tax Found., 144 Hawaiʻi at 191,
439 P.3d at 143. HRS § 11-172 (Supp. 2021) states that an
election complaint may be brought by “any thirty voters of any
election district.”
Plaintiffs’ Complaint was signed by thirty-three voters,
one of whom is Cushnie. Phone numbers and addresses of the
thirty-three voters were also provided in the record.
The signature pages in the Complaint include the following
affirmation:
10 I am one of more than thirty voters from Kauaʻi District 17 and am filing this election complaint pursuant to the Constitution for the State of Hawaii and Hawaii Revised Statutes for redress of grievances regarding the 2024 Hawaii General Election and as per the accompanying filing.
Based on this record, Plaintiffs have satisfied the
standing required by Cordery.
B. Summary Judgment
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 Hawaiʻi 330, 337, 13 P.3d 1235, 1242 (2000) (quotation
marks and citation omitted).
The court’s consideration of matters outside the pleadings
converts a motion to dismiss into one for summary judgment.
Foytik v. Chandler, 88 Hawaiʻi 307, 313, 966 P.2d 619, 625
(1998).
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 Hawaiʻi 262, 269-70, 948 P.2d 1103, 1110-11
(1997).
11 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 Hawaiʻi 262, 271, 308 P.3d 891, 900 (2013).
On a motion for summary judgment, this court must view the
evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.
State ex rel. Shikada v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., 152 Hawaiʻi
418, 442, 526 P.3d 395, 419 (2023).
However, this “court is permitted to draw only those
inferences of which the evidence is reasonably susceptible and
it may not resort to speculation.” Winfrey, 130 Hawaiʻi at 271,
308 P.3d at 900 (quoting Pioneer Mill Co. v. Dow, 90 Hawaiʻi 289,
295, 978 P.2d 727, 733 (1999)).
Pursuant to HRS § 11-174.5(b) (Supp. 2021), this court’s
Judgment may invalidate the general election contest for Kauaʻi
County Councilmember “on the grounds that a correct result
cannot be ascertained because of a mistake or fraud on the part
of the voter service center officials; or decide that a certain
candidate, or certain candidates, received a majority or
plurality of votes cast and were elected.”
An election complaint may allege an overage that could
cause a difference in the election results of a race. See HRS
§ 11-172.
12 Plaintiffs’ Complaint states a claim under HRS § 11-172
because Plaintiffs assert there is a mail ballot overage of
3,772 ballots that could cause a difference in the 2024 General
Election results for Kauaʻi County Councilmember. Plaintiffs
later asserted there is an overage of 442 mail ballots using
updated data provided by County, and then 661 mail ballots when
adding uncured envelopes.
“Overage” and “underage” are defined by HRS § 11-153
(Supps. 2019 & 2021), which states in its entirety:
(a) If there are more ballots than documented usage indicates, this shall be an overage and if fewer ballots, it shall be an underage. The election officials or counting center employees responsible for the tabulation of ballots shall make a note of this fact on a form to be provided by the chief election officer. The form recording the overage or underage shall be sent directly to the chief election officer or the clerk in county elections separate and apart from the other election records.
(b) If the electronic voting system is being used in an election, the overage or underage shall be recorded after the tabulation of the ballots. In an election using the paper ballot voting system, the chief election officer or the chief election officer’s designee shall proceed to count the votes cast for each candidate or on a question after recording the overage or underage.
(c) The chief election officer or the clerk shall make a list of all precincts in which an overage or underage occurred and the amount of the overage or underage. This list shall be filed and kept as a public record in the office of the chief election officer or the clerk in county elections.
An election contest may be brought under part XI, if the overage or underage in any precinct could affect the outcome of an election.
(Emphasis added.)
13 Overage and underage are also defined in HAR § 3-177-750,
which states:
§3-177-750 Electronic voting systems; documentation of overages and underages; records. The voted ballots shall be kept secure and handled only in the presence of representatives not of the same political party or official observers. If there are more ballots than documented usage indicates, this shall be an overage and if fewer ballots, it shall be an underage. Any overages or underages in any district shall be documented. The list of any such overages or underages shall be filed and kept as a public record in the office of the chief election officer or the clerk in county elections. After all ballots have been tabulated, they shall be sealed in containers.
Additionally, HAR § 3-177-769 states:
§3-177-769 Reconciliation of voted ballots. (a) The clerk shall prepare a reconciliation of voted mail and voter service center ballots recorded on a form prescribed by the chief election officer. The form shall summarize the following totals by precinct:
(1) Walk-in voter service center ballots;
(2) Valid mail return identification envelopes; and
(3) Invalidated mail ballots.
(b) If there are more ballots than documented usage indicates, this shall be an overage and if fewer ballots, it shall be an underage.
Reading “documented usage” in context with the plain
language of the above statutes and administrative rules shows
that “documented usage” refers to ballots (“[i]f there are more
ballots than documented usage indicates”) and not ballot
envelopes. See Tax Found., 144 Hawaiʻi at 193, 439 P.3d at 145
14 (stating that, when construing a statute, our foremost
obligation is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of
the legislature, which is to be obtained primarily from the
language contained in the statute itself, and we must read
statutory language in the context of the entire statute and
construe it in a manner consistent with its purpose).
With that in mind, Plaintiffs’ reliance on the data used to
calculate their 3,772 or 442 overage mail ballot amount is
unavailing because Plaintiffs disregard the “Disclaimer” at the
bottom of each page of the data they use. This “Disclaimer”
appears on the County forms and expressly states that “[f]igures
on this form represent a manual count of envelopes - not the
number of ballots counted.” (Emphases added.)
The Declaration attached to County’s motion explained that
this data is used for County’s internal staffing needs. This
data is not used to calculate overages and underages pursuant to
HRS § 11-153.
Moreover, Nago’s Declaration states that the envelopes
remain sealed and are not opened until the envelopes are
transferred to a state-operated counting center. The envelopes
are then opened at the state-operated counting center.
It is thus unreasonable to infer an amount of overage
ballots from these County forms. See Winfrey, 130 Hawaiʻi at
271, 308 P.3d at 900 (observing that this court is permitted to
15 draw only those inferences of which the evidence is reasonably
susceptible and it may not resort to speculation).
HRS § 11-96 (2009), which Plaintiffs rely on, states:
Every record made pursuant to law by a board of registration of voters, or the precinct officials, shall be a prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth, and shall be received as such in any court or tribunal in which the same is offered in evidence.
Even if HRS § 11-96 applies to the County forms, the County
forms are prima facie evidence of the amount of envelopes. The
County forms do not constitute prima facie evidence of the
amount of ballots due to the Disclaimer appearing on those
forms. See HRS § 11-96.
Plaintiffs’ reliance on HRS § 11-104(d) (Supp. 2023) is
similarly unavailing. HRS § 11-104(d) states: “Once a voter
has returned a return identification envelope containing the
secrecy envelope or secrecy sleeve with the marked ballot, that
voter’s ballot shall be deemed cast and may not be recast in the
election.” (Emphasis added.)
Even if the amount of envelopes recorded on the County
forms were construed to be the amount of return identification
envelopes, the County forms do not reflect whether those return
identification envelopes contained a secrecy envelope or sleeve
“with the marked ballot,” see HRS § 11-104(d), because the
disclaimer on the County forms expressly states that the County
forms do not represent “the number of ballots counted.”
16 Moreover, even if these County forms are prima facie
evidence of ballots notwithstanding the Disclaimer, Plaintiffs’
assertion that there is an overage amount that could have caused
a difference in the election results is belied by Plaintiffs’
December 12, 2024 Memorandum in Support that states there were
27,036 envelopes transferred from County to the State counting
center. The difference between 27,075 ballots and 27,036
envelopes is 39, which is clearly less than the 108 vote
difference between the seventh-place candidate (Fern Anuenue
Holland) and eighth-place candidate (Ross Kagawa) in the 2024
General Election for Kauaʻi County Councilmember.
According to the State’s data, for all Kauaʻi County
precincts, there is a total of 25 overage mail ballots. The
State’s data confirms that the amount of overage for mail
ballots will not cause a difference in the results of the Kauaʻi
County Councilmember race.
Even when viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to
Plaintiffs, there is no genuine issue of material fact of an
overage that could cause a difference in the 2024 General
Election results for Kauaʻi County Councilmember. See HRS § 11-
172.
C. Plaintiffs’ Memoranda in Support
Plaintiffs’ December 10 and 12, 2024 Memoranda in Support
is an attempt to amend its Complaint. Rather than rely only on
17 the County forms to assert that an overage exists, Plaintiffs
now seek to rely on an email to assert there are 219 uncured
envelopes in addition to the ballot envelope figures provided by
the County forms. In doing so, Plaintiffs make no discernable
argument explaining why the uncured ballots should be counted as
an overage ballot.
Plaintiffs attached an email string to their December 10
Memorandum in Support with emails dated December 9, 2024. One
of these emails appears to be from the Kauaʻi County Elections
Division and states: “The final number of uncured envelopes is
219 for the 2024 General election.”
But the final number of uncured envelopes in Kauaʻi County
could have been discovered earlier, before the November 25, 2024
deadline to file a general election contest. See HRS § 11-106
(Supp. 2023) (stating in part that a voter “shall have five
business days after the date of the election to cure the
deficiency”).
The General Election occurred on November 5, 2024.
Plaintiffs’ Complaint was filed on November 25, 2024. Rather
than include the 219 uncured envelope argument in the Complaint,
the Complaint instead states: “The records do not show that any
number of voted ballot envelopes were separated for curing and
not forwarded to the state counting center from the county.”
18 County and the State filed their responses to the Complaint
on December 4 and 5, 2024, respectively. Plaintiffs did not
file a Memorandum in Support until December 10, 2024, or after
County and State filed their responses to the Complaint.
“All pleadings in applications for writs or other relief,
filed originally in the supreme court, shall conform to the
requirements of Hawaiʻi Rules of Civil Procedure 7 through 15.”
Hawaiʻi Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 16 (eff. 2000).
Rule 15(a)(1) of the Hawaiʻi Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP)
states that a party “may amend the party’s pleading once as a
matter of course at any time before a responsive pleading is
served[.]” Otherwise, “[i]n all other cases, a party may amend
the party’s pleading only by leave of court or by written
consent of the adverse party; and leave shall be freely given
when justice so requires.” HRCP Rule 15(a)(2) (eff. 2012).
In civil lawsuits, this court applied HRCP Rule 15(a)(2) in
a manner that “leave to amend a complaint shall be freely given
and . . . undue delay alone is an insufficient basis for denying
leave to amend a complaint.” Carvalho v. AIG Hawaiʻi Ins. Co.,
Inc., 150 Hawaiʻi 381, 387, 502 P.3d 482, 488 (2022).
But this isn’t an ordinary civil lawsuit. This is an
election contest. This court must hear the general election
complaint “as soon as it reasonably may be heard.” HRS § 11-
174.5(b) (Supp. 2021). In a primary election contest, this
19 court’s decision must be issued within four days after the
defendant’s answer to the complaint is filed. See HRS § 11-
173.5(b) (2009).
And the defendants are mandated with answering a complaint
within ten days after service of the summons in a general
election contest. HRS § 11-174.5(a) (2009). The defendants
have five days after service of the summons to answer a primary
election complaint. HRS § 11-173.5(a) (Supp. 2019) & Act 1
(March 5, 2024) (to be codified at HRS § 11-173.5(a)) (deleting
language concerning primary election contests arising from a
mandatory recount).
The election statutes are framed in a manner that mandates
a quick resolution of each general and primary election
complaint that is brought before this court. See HRS §§ 11-
173.5, 11-174.5. As Plaintiffs themselves point out in their
Motion for Interrogatories, certification of the results of a
general election race is delayed due to a general election
contest. See HRS § 11-174.5(b) (discussing the options that
this court’s Judgment may do to a general election); see also
HRS § 11-155 (Supp. 2022) (certification).
Allowing amendments to an election complaint to be freely
given under HRCP Rule 15(a)(2) is inconsistent with the quick
decisions that this court is mandated to make on general and
primary election complaints under HRS §§ 11-173.5 and 11-174.5,
20 and further delaying election certification due to an amended
election complaint does not benefit the public’s interest. We
thus deny Plaintiffs’ attempt to amend their Complaint through
their December 10 and 12 Memoranda in Support.
D. Motion for Interrogatories
As for Plaintiffs’ motion for interrogatories, an election
contest is not intended to be used to delay certification of an
election and thereafter raise issues concerning acts that may
have been taken prior to certification. See HRS § 11-172
(concerning the basis of an election complaint).
Nor is an election contest intended to be used as a
discovery device concerning the consequences of a delayed
certification. See id.
Plaintiffs’ motion for interrogatories is denied.
JUDGMENT
Based on the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of
law, Judgment is entered in favor of the State and County, and
against Plaintiffs.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii, December 20, 2024.
/s/ Mark E. Recktenwald
/s/ Sabrina S. McKenna
/s/ Todd W. Eddins
/s/ Lisa M. Ginoza
/s/ Vladimir P. Devens