Alan B. Burdick v. Morris Takushi, Director of Elections, State of Hawaii John W. Waihee, Lieutenant Governor, State of Hawaii

NORRIS, Circuit Judge;

In May 1986, Appellee Burdick notified Appellants Takushi and Waihee (Hawaii’s Director of Elections and Lieutenant Governor, respectively) that he wished to cast a write-in vote in the upcoming September primary. After consulting with the State Attorney General, appellants informed Bur-dick that Hawaii election laws do not provide for write-ins and that such votes would be disallowed or ignored. Burdick filed suit in federal district court claiming that in the upcoming primary and in future primaries and general elections he wished to vote for persons whose names would…