Unfortunately, just days after Daniel Dae Kim (aka Coolest Celebrity in the World) launched a contest to encourage folks to vote by offering a Hawaii get-away and Hawaii 5-0 set visit to the Twitter follower who sends him the most creative “I Voted” picture, he was forced to withdraw the contest after discovering it’s in violation of Hawaii election law. Here’s his letter to his followers:
So I have some very bad news everybody. I just heard from the Hawaii State Attorney General’s Office today, who told me that the #iVOTED contest is in violation of a Hawaii State Election Fraud statute, specifically Chapter 19-3, which you can read here:
http://www.lawserver.com/law/state/hawaii/hi-statutes/hawaii_statutes_19-3
As a result, I’m afraid I’m going to have to withdraw the #iVOTED contest. I’m so sorry to everyone who took the time to submit. I received some really amazing photos and was so impressed with how enthusiastic you guys were. If I could think of any legal way to keep it going, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’ve even thought of other alternatives I could offer to encourage people, but apparently it’s even illegal to offer a tweet session to say thanks. Again, sorry.Though I’m happy to comply with the law, I do have to say that it saddens me that in the state with the lowest voter turnout in America…http://cnnchangethelist.tumblr.com/post/31526477522/heres-the-list-hawaii-has-the-lowest-voter-turnout…it’s even harder than in other states to get people to vote. On the bright side, here’s an article that tells you what we residents of Hawaii CAN do:Whether or not I’m able to host a contest though, I hope you’ll still get out there and please vote; and I really hope you’ll keep sending me pics and tweets showing you did. I promise you I’ll be smiling when I see them.
Thanks again everybody. Also mahalo to Hawaiian Airlines and The Modern Honolulu Hotel for their support. I’ll see you on twitter, Facebook and of course, your TV screens.
With deepest aloha-
DanielThat totally sucks, because I thought DDK’s contest was creative and inspiring — a testament to his interest in encouraging civic participation. And, besides, y’all should be voting anyways, folks!
So, even though DDK had to withdraw his contest, this isn’t any reason to choose not to vote. Vote now, vote early, vote by mail. vote on Tuesday (ok, don’t do all those things at the same time though; that would be both a time paradox and voter fraud). Further, just because you won’t get a chance to fly to Hawaii and meet Daniel Dae Kim and the cast of Hawaii 5-0 is no reason to not still Tweet fun pictures showing evidence that you voted with the hashtag #iVoted to @danieldaekim.
Yeah, that’s right. I’m advocating spamming @danieldaekim with #iVoted pictures.
And yeah, maybe you won’t win a trip to Hawaii. But, you could still entertain the coolest celebrity on the planet with your civic involvement. Just a modest thank you for having been willing to host this contest in the first place.
