Vote recount
verifies results of
1998 state election

Public testifies today on the
fate of Dwayne Yoshina

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

As the public gets a chance today to testify on whether chief election officer Dwayne Yoshina should keep his job, initial results from a recount of the 1998 general election verified that, except for seven precincts, the election results were largely correct.

Yoshina and an oversight committee headed by legislative auditor Marion Higa and two national elections experts held a news conference at Aloha Stadium yesterday to share the initial results of the recount.

Higa said the recount results did not differ in any race by more than 1 percent from the November results and there was no change in any outcomes.

"No matter how many times we counted it, no matter how many different ways we looked at it, the results came out the same," said oversight committee member R. Doug Lewis.

"I'm not interested in vindication," Yoshina said. "It's more important that the people of the state of Hawaii were reassured that their votes counted."

In the governor's race where Ben Cayetano beat Linda Lingle by 5,254 votes, a recount using a "visible light" high speed machine showed the margin of victory decreased by 49 votes.

Another recount using a different "infrared" machine showed the margin decreased by 278 votes, out of 403,158 votes cast for both candidates.

Ballot spoiled by voter using checkmarks
instead of coloring in the circles.

Yoshina said the difference between the November count and the recount can be attributed to the failures in seven precincts. The difference in the results between the two types of machines can be attributed to "marginal marks" where voters used a different kind of pen, check marks or lines and did not completely fill in the oval. The two different types of machines count marginal marks differently.

The oversight committee is scheduled to file a more complete report to the Legislature at the end of the month.

That's about the same time the Elections Appointment Panel is hoping to make a recommendation on whether Yoshina should be reappointed.

The panel scheduled a hearing today to receive testimony on Yoshina. The panel is working separately from the oversight committee but may consider the results of the recount in making its decision on Yoshina's future.

Higa yesterday praised Yoshina and his staff and recommended he be retained. "The citizens of Hawaii can rest easy that elections have great integrity," she said.