Ballot mix-up
could affect
three districts

Possibly more than
200 absentee voters got a
wrong ballot or two ballots

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

The Honolulu City Clerk's office is wrestling with problems affecting 211 absentee voters in three Oahu House districts who were mailed either the wrong ballots or the same ballots twice.

City Clerk Genny Wong this morning said one problem affects 144 voters in the 26th House District in Nuuanu Valley who were sent ballots between Oct. 8 and Oct. 13.

The other problems affect 67 voters in District 41 (Ewa-Ewa Beach-Waipahu) and District 42 (Ewa-Kunia-Makakilo) who were mailed wrong ballots.

Because of a printing error, the Nuuanu voters were apparently sent a ballot for a Big Island race. When the error was discovered, the clerk's office invalidated 80 ballots that had already been mailed back and sent new ballots to the voters with a letter explaining the problem.

Yesterday, however, a voter in that district told the Star-Bulletin she was mailed two identical ballots. The voter did not want to be identified because she did not want her ballot to be singled out. She showed the ballots to the Star-Bulletin and they appeared to be correct for the district and identical.

Wong said there are safeguards to prevent people from voting twice. But the discovery raises questions of whether some of the 80 ballots that have been invalidated contain correct ballots and should actually be counted.

The envelopes containing absentee ballots are not opened until election day Nov. 3. Because of ballot secrecy, there are questions as to whether or how the envelopes containing the 80 invalidated ballots can be opened and double-checked to see if they are valid.

"We'll have to have some discussion with (Chief Election Officer) Dwayne (Yoshina) and the attorney general's office to assure ourselves that no one is disenfranchised," Wong said.

She said voters who received the wrong ballot or got the same ballot twice should call the City Clerk's office so it can track down the problem and ensure their votes will count.

Wong is urging voters who received a second ballot to destroy the old ballot and mail in the new ballot so their votes will be counted. As of yesterday, 32 of the 80 voters had sent in the second ballot.

The problems in House Districts 41 and 42 involve a mix-up in the clerk's office: 29 voters in District 42 were sent ballots for District 41, and 38 voters in District 41 were sent ballots for District 42.

Some candidates running for office in the districts affected by the problems are concerned it could have an effect on a close race.

"Oh, please let there not be an error, because I need every vote," said Maeda Timson, a Democrat running for District 42.

Sylvia Luke, a Democrat in District 26, said she hopes voters who have already sent in absentee ballots are still on-island and can vote again.

Absentee voters asked to mark ballot by pencil Star-Bulletin The state Office of Elections is reminding absentee voters to use a pencil, not an ink pen, to mark their ballot. If voters have already marked ballots with a pen, they should use a pencil to mark over the original pen mark so the ballots will not jam the counting system. Small pencils are being mailed out with the absentee voting materials. The machine that counts absentee ballots cannot detect regular ballpoint- pen ink. The counter will reject ballots marked with ink. During the primary election, that caused a long delay in the ballot counting process. Voters are also reminded to sign the affidavit on the outside of the envelope. That signature can be in pen because the envelopes are not run through the counter. Voters who cast their ballot on election day will be able to vote using a pen. The machines can read the ink from pens at the polling stations. Saturday is the last day to vote at the walk-up absentee polls at Honolulu Hale and the Pearlridge Satellite City Hall. The polls at city hall will be open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Saturday. At Pearlridge, the polls will be open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Both will be closed Monday, the day before the election. Any Oahu resident registered for the general election can vote at the absentee polling places. Voters must bring a picture I.D. to get a ballot.