State’s voter apathy Voter apathy has grown in the past 20 years with Hawaii recording the lowest turnout of voters nationwide in the 2000 general elections, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
zooms to worst in U.S.
A report ranks Hawaii last in
registration and turnout for
the 2000 general electionsBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.comHawaii also ranked at the bottom of the national list in 2000 with about one person in two registering to vote.
"Looks like y'all aren't voting," said Amie Jamieson, co-author of the census report, "Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2000."
The report, which looked at voting and registration rates and characteristics during presidential elections, showed the national average for voters (compared to eligible voters) who actually voted rose to 60 percent in 2000 from 58 percent in 1996.
Washington, D.C., Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin had the highest turnout at 70 percent. Florida, which faced a nationally scrutinized election recount during the 2000 presidential elections, had a voting rate of 60 percent.
Hawaii had the lowest percentage of voters at 44.1 percent, a figure that has continued to drop since 1980, when 63.5 percent of eligible Hawaii residents voted. Data for earlier years were not available, the report said.
Jamieson said yesterday Hawaii does fare well when it comes to the percentage of registered voters who actually voted in 2000.
"It looks like, for Hawaii at least, once people are registered, they do get out and vote," Jamieson said.
Chief Elections Officer Dwayne Yoshina reviewed the report yesterday. He agreed Hawaii's 2000 elections turnout was low and that voter turnout has declined over the years, said Rex Quidilla, elections spokesman.
Quidilla said the Elections Office over the years has made the elections more open, easy and accessible, but that voter education is not the panacea to the low voter turnout.
Instead, he said, voter apathy is a societal problem that has to be addressed by the political parties, candidates, community groups and others.
Some of these groups acknowledged yesterday Hawaii residents may have lost their aloha for voting.
"The most important thing, whether nationally or locally, is the lack of competition. The races are so uncompetitive," said Jean Aoki, legislative chairwoman of The League of Women Voters of Hawaii.
"We have sure winners in just about every district, and the top winner really wins with a landslide. Nobody is going to get excited unless the races are competitive," she said.
Aoki said some ways to increase voter participation include public awareness of key voter deadlines, public funding of elections to even the playing field and same-day voter registration.
Nearly all of the states that allowed registration on election day in 2000 had registration rates above the national average of 60 percent, the report showed.
Hawaii had the lowest registration of any state at 52 percent.
The Hawaii Republican Party suggested similar reasons for the decline. Micah Kane, the newly appointed party chairman, said voters may feel disenfranchised about the lack of checks and balances because of a strong, one-party system, especially now with the recent arrests and convictions of Democratic public officeholders.
Republicans hope to give the state a strong two-party system this fall, he said.
"I think that's where we can make the biggest contribution," Kane said.
"People will engage in the political process because they feel passionate about someone or a certain issue," he said.
Of the 19 million registered voters nationwide who did not vote in 2000, 12 percent said it was because they were not interested or felt their vote would not make a difference.
Another 21 percent said they did not vote because they were too busy or had conflicting work or school schedules, a finding supported by Hawaii Democratic Party Chairwoman Lorraine Akiba.
"Many people today work several jobs and their recreational time is very limited," Akiba said.
"And I think that a lot of people have so much else to do in their lives and they feel that politics is something that's probably not a part of their everyday life, although its a very important part of their lives," she said.
Even so, Akiba said there's a rekindled interest in government since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. People now aren't viewing government as an enemy but looking at it to do the things it should be doing when needed, she said.
For example, Democrats this year strongly support legislation that includes an automatic recount bill, mandatory ethics training and bans on political contributions from corporations and unions, as well as a ban on contributions from those who receive government contracts.
Brian Schatz, the House majority whip who has pushed for campaign finance reform during his two terms, said the political system needs to be reformed so regular people are more well represented in the legislature.
When that is changed, more people will vote, he said.
"I think there's a sense of frustration out there, and they're feeling like the little guy is not always well represented in the political system," Schatz (D, Makiki-Tantalus-Manoa) said.
The report was based on the Census Bureau's November 2000 Current Population Survey, a sample survey that collected information on voting two weeks after the November elections.
State of Hawaii
