BENNETT v. YOSHINA

Nos. 97-16408, 97-16540, 97-16543 and 97-16596.

140 F.3d 1218 (1998)

Mark J. BENNETT; Charles S. Frumin; Bobby Carinio; Mark R. Spengler; Let the People Decide; Citizens for a Constitutional Convention, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, and Jerry Beck, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Dwayne D. YOSHINA, Chief, Elections Officer of the State of Hawaii; Office of Elections; Mazie K. Hirono, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii, and; Benjamin J. Cayetano, Governor of the State of Hawaii, in their official capacities, Defendants-Appellants. Mark J. BENNETT; Charles S. Frumin; Bobby Carinio; Mark R. Spengler; Let the People Decide; Citizens for a Constitutional Convention, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, and Jerry Beck, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Dwayne D. YOSHINA, Chief, Elections Officer of the State of Hawaii; Office of Elections; Mazie K. Hirono, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii, and; Benjamin J. Cayetano, Governor of the State of Hawaii, Defendants-Appellees, and Hawaii State AFL-CIO; Gary W. Rodrigues; Russell Okata; Keith Ahue; Jackie Ferguson-Miyamoto; Donald Abdul; Nilda Chock; Clayton Dela Cruz; Guy Fujimura; Carmela Gomez; Leonard Hoshijo; Jonathan Kane; Mark Matsumoto; Stuart McKinley; Richard Rutt; Lawrence Sakamoto; Howard Tasaka; Peter Trask; Adaline Uhrle; George Yasumoto; Michael Amii; Dennis Chang; Patricia A. Chow; Garen R. Deweese; Leslie Anne Deweese; Jan Doi; Robert Doi; Melvin Fong; Kimberly Haines; William Hoshijo; Marsha R. Joyner; Calvin Koseki; Leimalama Lee Loi; Robert Matsunaka; Laverne Moore; Janette M. Nagao; Robert H. Nagao; Craig Nahm; Ayako Nakanishi; Douglass Pang; Larry Sakoda; Ethel Shintaku; Andrei Soto; George Thomas; Leilani Thomas; Linda N. Thomas; Jeanine Tsuchiya; Maureen Wakuzawa; Harry Wood; Lana Young, Defendant-Intervenors-Appellees. Mark J. BENNETT; Charles S. Frumin; Bobby Carinio; Mark R. Spengler; Let the People Decide; Citizens for a Constitutional Convention, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, and Jerry Beck, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Dwayne D. YOSHINA, Chief, Elections Officer of the State of Hawaii; Office of Elections; Mazie K. Hirono, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii, in their individual capacities; Office of Elections; Benjamin J. Cayetano, Governor of the State of Hawaii, Defendants, and Hawaii State AFL-CIO; Gary W. Rodrigues; Russell Okata; Keith Ahue; Jackie Ferguson-Miyamoto; Donald Abdul; Nilda Chock; Clayton Dela Cruz; Guy Fujimura; Carmela Gomez; Leonard Hoshijo; Jonathan Kane; Mark Matsumoto; Stuart McKinley; Richard Rutt; Lawrence Sakamoto; Howard Tasaka; Peter Trask; Adaline Uhrle; George Yasumoto; Michael Amii; Dennis Chang; Patricia A. Chow; Garen R. Deweese; Leslie Anne Deweese; Jan Doi; Robert Doi; Melvin Fong; Kimberly Haines; William Hoshijo; Marsha R. Joyner; Calvin Koseki; Leimalama Lee Loi; Robert Matsunaka; Laverne Moore; Janette M. Nagao; Robert H. Nagao; Craig Nahm; Ayako Nakanishi; Douglass Pang; Larry Sakoda; Ethel Shintaku; Andrei Soto; George Thomas; Leilani Thomas; Linda N. Thomas; Jeanine Tsuchiya; Maureen Wakuzawa; Harry Wood; Lana Young, Defendant-Intervenors-Appellants. Mark J. BENNETT; Charles S. Frumin; Bobby Carinio; Mark R. Spengler; Let the People Decide; Citizens for a Constitutional Convention, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, and Jerry Beck, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Dwayne D. YOSHINA, Chief, Elections Officer of the State of Hawaii; Office of Elections; Mazie K. Hirono, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii, and; Benjamin J. Cayetano, Governor of the State of Hawaii, in their official capacities; Office of Elections, Defendants, and Hawaii State AFL-CIO; Gary W. Rodrigues; Russell Okata; Keith Ahue; Jackie Ferguson-Miyamoto; Donald Abdul; Nilda Chock; Clayton Dela Cruz; Guy Fujimura; Carmela Gomez; Leonard Hoshijo; Jonathan Kane; Mark Matsumoto; Stuart McKinley; Richard Rutt; Lawrence Sakamoto; Howard Tasaka; Peter Trask; Adaline Uhrle; George Yasumoto; Michael Amii; Dennis Chang; Patricia A. Chow; Garen R. Deweese; No. 97-16596 D.C. No. CV 97-0322 Dae Leslie Anne Deweese; Jan Doi; Robert Doi; Melvin Fong; Kimberly Haines; William Hoshijo; Marsha R. Joyner; Calvin Koseki; Leimalama Lee Loi; Robert Matsunaka; Laverne Moore; Janette M. Nagao; Robert H. Nagao; Craig Nahm; Ayako Nakanishi; Douglass Pang; Larry Sakoda; Ethel Shintaku; Andrei Soto; George Thomas; Leilani Thomas; Linda N. Thomas; Jeanine Tsuchiya; Maureen Wakuzawa; Harry Wood; Lana Young, Defendant-Intervenors-Appellants.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Decided March 27, 1998.

As Amended on Denial of Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing June 23, 1998.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Steven S. Michaels, Debevoise & Plimpton, New York City, and Mark J. Bennett, McCorriston Miho Miller Mukai, Honolulu, HI, for plaintiffs-appellees and appellants.

Margery S. Bronster, Attorney General of Hawaii, Dorothy Sellers, Deputy Attorney General, Honolulu, HI, for defendants-appellants and appellees.

Marsha S. Berzon and Lowell Finley, Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Berzon & Rubin, San Francisco, California, for the defendant-intervenors-appellants in Nos. 97-16540 and 97-16596, and for amici curiae Hawaii State AFL-CIO, et al., in Nos. 97-16408 and 97-16543.

Shelton G.W. Jim On, Jim On & Beerman, Honolulu, Hawaii, for amicus curiae Republican Party of Hawaii.

Before: WIGGINS, NOONAN, and TASHIMA, Circuit Judges.


As Amended on Denial of Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc June 23, 1998.*

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge:

This case presents a constitutional challenge to a vote put to the citizens of Hawaii on November 5, 1996. Plaintiffs ask us to invalidate the vote on the ground that the Hawaii Supreme Court's interpretation of blank ballots was so unforeseeable that the voters' substantive...

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