Former County Council candidate charged with voter fraud

Tiffany Edwards Hunt, a blogger and former County Council candidate, has been charged with voter fraud, the Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

The charge follows an investigation that started during her race for the County Council District 5 seat in 2014.

At the time, Edwards Hunt faced allegations that she changed her residential address on her voter registration affidavit, allowing her to vote in another district’s races during previous elections. She lost to Daniel Paleka by 274 votes in the general election.

According to her voter registration records, she began to use her husband’s Pahoa surf shop as her residential address in 2008. Edwards Hunt previously listed her home in Hawaiian Acres as her primary address on her voter affidavit. She switched it backed to that address in 2013 before running for council.

The business and home were and remain located in separate electoral districts.

Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara declined a request from prosecutors for $2,000 bail, instead opting for supervised release.

“She has a pretty high profile in the community,” Hara said. “It’s going to be pretty hard for her to hide.”

Edwards Hunt runs an online news blog.

It’s not clear when she will appear in court.

Reached by phone, she referred comment to her attorney, Brian DeLima.

DeLima said her actions don’t meet the criteria for voter fraud and that he has “exculpatory evidence” vindicating his client.

“We stated (to prosecutors) that allegations that were publicly reported were untrue as to her domicile and that pursuant to state law she did not violate any statute and, quite frankly, we believe the allegations are beyond the statute of limitations,” he said.

Asked if that meant Edwards Hunt was residing at the surf shop during that time period, DeLima referred to his previous statement.

According to Hawaii Revised Statutes, voter fraud occurs when:

• Any person knowingly registers another person to vote when that person isn’t entitled to register to vote.

• Any person who knowingly votes when the person is not entitled to vote.

• Any person who knowingly takes an oath in this title prescribed or authorized by law and willfully makes any false statement of fact while under oath therein.

• Any person who willfully makes a false answer to any question asked of the person while under oath in this title prescribed or authorized by law.

The Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release that the crime, a Class C felony, is alleged to have occurred between Aug. 7 and Nov. 5, 2012, the dates of that year’s primary and general elections.

Voter fraud has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or a fine of $10,000.

The allegations were initially made by Sativa Sultan, the campaign manager for RJ Hampton, one of Edwards Hunt’s opponents in the 2014 primary election.

County Clerk Stewart Maeda forwarded Sultan’s complaint to the Police Department, which conducted an investigation and referred the matter to prosecutors.

It wasn’t the only allegation made against Edwards Hunt during that campaign.

Sultan, who couldn’t be reached for comment, also raised questions regarding Edwards Hunt’s use of a homeowners property tax exemption for a home in Hilo. The tax break can only be applied to the home an owner uses as their primary residence.

She alleged Edwards Hunt falsely used the exemption for the home, which she was using as a rental. Property records show the Hilo home is worth more than her house in Hawaiian Acres, and therefore provided a larger tax break.

Stan Sitko, administrator of the county’s real property tax office, confirmed Edwards Hunt had to pay $3,609.20 for misusing the tax break. That includes three years of back payments, the maximum allowed by statute, and a 10 percent fine.

Reporter Nancy Cook Lauer contributed to this report.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.