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Hundreds of Republican Party Chairwoman Linda Lingle said the state attorney general's office should look into the city's finding that as many as 543 Oahu residents who are registered to vote in this month's primary may be ineligible.
Oahu voters may be
deemed ineligible
As many as 543 residents
may not be U.S. citizens and are
improperly registered to voteVoter rolls see 8% increase statewide
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-BulletinCity Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura and City Clerk Genny Wong said yesterday those residents may not be U.S. citizens and are improperly registered to vote.
The questionable voters were discovered when the city elections staff cross-checked its lists with those distributed by the office that administers state identification cards. Applicants for state IDs do not have to be citizens, but are asked if they are.
Lingle blamed Dwayne Yoshina, the state's chief election officer, for not having his office cross-check the validity of registered voters immediately after the 1998 elections when questions were raised.
"What strikes me is the overall lack of leadership and professionalism from the state Office of Elections," Lingle said. "This continues to highlight how really inept the state Office of Elections is."
A representative of the attorney general's office could not be reached for comment. Gov. Ben Cayetano's office said he wanted to look at the issue more carefully before issuing a statement.
Wong said her staff has been working with Yoshina's office on the verification project.
Yoshina could not be reached for comment, but Aisha Wang, his spokeswoman, said the state elections staff may look at the matter later. "At this time we have no course of action."
Wang noted Yoshimura and Wong have emphasized they want questionable voters to come forward without fear of retribution.
The city clerk's office, which oversees elections, sent letters last month to the voters informing them of the citizenship requirement and requesting proof.
About 120 responses have been received by the city, said Glen Takahashi, assistant elections administrator.
Roughly half showed proof they have become citizens since applying for state IDs. The others acknowledged they are not citizens and were unaware they needed to be to register to vote, he said.
Because there is no way of determining if those who did not respond are eligible, the names will not be stricken from voter lists, said Yoshimura, whose office oversees the clerk's office.
Yoshimura and Wong said the focus now is on ensuring that ineligible voters do not step into the voting booth on primary election day, Sept. 23, not on punishing them for being registered.
"We are concerned that there may be other people who have unwittingly registered to vote although they are not qualified to do so," Yoshimura said. "There may be people, for example, who may not have a state ID or never applied for one, that are not citizens but have somehow registered to vote."
A noncitizen who willfully registers or votes could face up to five years' imprisonment, a $10,000 fine and possible deportation, Yoshimura said.
Eventually, the city could turn over its information to the state elections office, city prosecutors or state attorneys, he said.
"There may be a need to follow up, but at this point in time, that is not our kuleana," he said. "What we're concerned about is the integrity of the elections process."
The city has not even looked at whether there have been any patterns involving the voters in question -- such as whether they are from the same neighborhoods, were registered by the same people or share the same ethnicity.
Yoshimura acknowledged also at least some of the 543 residents voted in previous elections.
Maui leads the state in voter registration increases with a 12 percent rise, according to new figures. Voter rolls see 8%
increase statewideBy Richard Borreca
Star-BulletinCity Clerk Genevieve Wong said yesterday that, overall, the state has 629,162 registered voters, 8 percent more than registered for the primary election two years ago.
Wong called that increase "in the ballpark" for primary election increases, which in past years have ranged from 8 percent to 13 percent.
Besides Maui, with 12 percent more voters than two years ago, increases for the other counties were: Honolulu, 7 percent; Hawaii, 10 percent; and Kauai, 6 percent.
The actual number of persons registered to vote are:
Included, according to Wong, are about 111,000 voters who have probably moved or are no longer active voters. According to federal voter laws, the state is not allowed to remove voters who fail to vote, but it can to keep track of its voter rolls.Oahu: 439,934
The state sent two mailings to voters this year, asking them to correct the address or name on the voter list. This first mailing was not able to be forwarded, but the second one instructed the post office to return it if no one collected the mailing.
About 110,000 mailings came back, Wong said.
Those persons are still allowed to vote, but when they go to the poll, they will be asked to fill out a new voter registration form, she said.
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