Voting ‘Irregularities’ Lead to HSTA Re-Vote

The Hawai’i State Teachers Association plans to hold a re-vote of April’s election for state officers.

HSTA officials say the re-vote will follow the board of director’s decision Saturday night to refuse the certification of results from the April election. Election results were shared with the board prior to the decision.

Through an e-mail to board members, Executive Director Wilbert Holck explained that the board of directors decided to “redo elections for all races… due to irregularities in the voting process.”

During the April election, voting members were able to vote through e-mail or mail and were reportedly given the opportunity to obtain ballots if they hadn’t received one.

Results of the April election will not be shared with HSTA members, outside of the board, or with the general public.

Among the votes, HSTA officials say Corey Rosenlee, a candidate for the HSTA president position and a current member of the board of directors, voted against a new election and voted to certify the April results. Joan Lewis, another candidate for HSTA president and current HSTA vice president, voted again certifying the results and voted for a new election. In addition, Colleen Pasco, a candidate for the vice president position and current treasurer, voted against the certification of the April election and, instead, voted for a new election.

The re-vote will not take place by e-mail or mail, according to a HSTA official. Instead, it is likely that the voting will take place by ballot at designated schools. All candidates who were on the ballot during the first election will be on the ballot when re-voting occurs.

Beyond the re-vote, further elections could be in the future for the HSTA. If an elected position has three people running and none of them receive a percentage higher than 50 percent, an additional election could be held. This was previously encountered during the April election, however, since it was not certified, it did not count toward the future election.