Parties push to get
voters in primary

The state had 661,000 registered
voters as of Aug. 8

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By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com

A new battle for voters' hearts opened yesterday as the campaign to register those voters ended.

The deadline to register to vote in Hawaii's Sept. 21 primary election was 4:30 p.m. While final figures for primary voter registrations were not available yesterday, the state had 661,000 registered voters as of Aug. 8, according to election officials. In 2000 there were 629,000 voters registered for the primary election.

Republican and Democratic gubernatorial campaigns that have been struggling to register voters for the primary now can focus on attracting their votes.

"We are trying to turn out as many as possible," said Republican Party Chairman Micah Kane. "We are seeing a lot of new voters who are attracted to (Linda) Lingle, and we are seeing a strong pull in Kalihi and Waipahu."

Lorraine Akiba, Democratic Party chairwoman, said the party is focusing on attracting younger and new voters who would be interested in young Democratic candidates.

Four years ago, the primary election shocked veteran politicians as the Republicans, led by then-Maui Mayor Lingle, collected more votes than the Democrats. After adding up all the categories for counting votes in the governor's race, including candidates, blank ballots and overvotes, the GOP amassed 159,126 votes while the Democrats had 122,977.

Those numbers changed in the general election, with Gov. Ben Cayetano winning a narrow victory over Lingle, but the primary-night total was still a jolt that the Democrats do not want to see again and the Republicans are trying to repeat.

Two years ago, Hawaii had the worst voter turnout in the country, with only 41.7 percent of those eligible turning out, according to state election figures.

"There is still a lot of voter apathy out there," Kane said. The Republicans are hoping to use Lingle's campaign in the primary to draw voters to the polls.

Democrats doubt that the GOP will be able to match the traditionally strong Democratic primary.

First, Democrats have more contested races, and the governor's race has three major candidates, noted Andy Winer, who is running the Democrats' "get out the vote" campaign.

"I would be surprised if we didn't (out-poll the GOP)," Winer said.

Also, he added, the Democratic candidates have their own organizations to get voters to the polls.

"When you look at the Republicans, outside of the race for lieutenant governor, what else do they have?" Winer said.

The candidates for governor have been trying to extend their voter base by searching for new voters who will help them in the primary election.

For example, the campaign of Democrat D.G. "Andy" Anderson signed up representatives in the Hawaiian, Filipino and Samoan communities to register voters, according to campaign spokesman Ray Lovell.

The spokesman for Democratic Rep. Ed Case's campaign said they registered people at a concert and found a lot of young people already registered.

"We have been getting calls from people asking about how to vote absentee," said Randy Obata, with the Case campaign.