HONOLULU — A Republican candidate for the state House of Representatives said Tuesday that she can’t return from California to campaign because she fears being arrested for violating a traveler quarantine in effect in the islands to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Lori Ford was visiting family in California over spring break and stayed there when Hawaii imposed a 14-day quarantine on travelers arriving in the islands.
She said from her lawyer’s California office that she decided to run for office and flew back to Hawaii to file candidacy papers on May 26 and then went back to California.
In June, special agents from the Hawaii attorney general’s office contacted her and told her she would be arrested upon her return for violating the quarantine order, she said.
“Ms. Ford does have the right to take reasonable steps to run for office, including pulling papers,” said her attorney Bilal Essayli. “The quarantine order, we believe, as applied to Ms. Ford, is unconstitutional.”
Ford said she didn’t attempt to seek a quarantine exemption from the state so she could file her papers in person.
“However, she did not believe that traveling there strictly for the purpose of pulling papers and promptly leaving would be considered a violation,” Essayli said.
A spokesperson for the Hawaii attorney general’s office said he would respond as quickly as possible.
Agents from the office turned down Ford’s offer to be cited instead of arrested, Essayli said.
“Whether or not she violated the order, our concern is the proportionality of force and the manner in which they are enforcing the governor’s order,” he said. “They’re insisting on her flying back to be arrested and hauled off to jail.”
Authorities have routinely arrested tourists and residents for violating the quarantine order.
Ford’s children flew back to Hawaii without her on July 20 so they could complete their quarantine before school started, she said.
Ford said she is willing to abide by the quarantine if she is able to return to Hawaii without the threat of arrest.
