Delays possible
at polls

District changes, lack of workers
and ballot confusion may
delay voting in the fall

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By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com

State election officials say there is a potential for voting delays at 351 polling places during this fall's elections because of a combination of factors that one election official said could develop into "The Perfect Storm."

There are an unprecedented 127 seats up for grabs in this watershed election year, which is expected to draw record voters.

Rex Quidilla, election administrative assistant, said the elements are there for delays: newly realigned political districts moving 60,000 Hawaii voters into new polling places; the lack of enough precinct workers; and confusion over the primary election ballot.

Dwayne Yoshina, chief election officer, estimates he has about 70 percent of the 4,500 workers needed and will be recruiting for the rest through the election season. The job pays $75 per election day. "And on Election Day we always lose between 15 and 20 percent as no-shows," Yoshina said.

Elections officials met with Honolulu Star-Bulletin editors and reporters yesterday to discuss the upcoming elections. One major concern is the primary-election ballot. In 1998 the computer punch-card system was replaced with a paper ballot that can be scanned by a device.

"What we found in the past was, basically, over the last two election cycles, the primary seems to be problematic with voters. And it's for a number of reasons," Yoshina said.

He said people need to understand how to vote on the single, large sheet ballot.

Voters are told to choose "one color and the white" on the multicolored ballot (one color for each political party).

But that's not always the case.

For example, some voters pick more than one political party in the primary or do not completely fill in the oval next to a candidate's name.

Both result in a spoiled ballot that is rejected by the electronic ballot-scanning machine.

In the 1988 primary elections, 2.75 percent of the ballots were spoiled. In 2000, 3.7 percent of the ballots were spoiled.

"A vote is a completely darkened oval. Any time you stray from this, you will run the risk of your vote not counting," Quidilla said.

Because all of Hawaii's political districts were reapportioned over the past year to comply with population changes discovered in the 2000 census, the number of polling places in Hawaii grew to 351 from 336 in 2000.

As a result, precincts for some 60,000 voters were moved, prompting an emphasis that voters' polling places may have changed from two years ago.

Yoshina also said he will not post individual precinct results at polling places after they are closed, despite repeated requests.

While the Elections Office wants to get out the election results as soon as possible, he said it must ensure their integrity.

"I'm realistic enough to know those numbers will be called to some campaign headquarters, and those guys will add up the numbers, and those numbers will not add up to our numbers. And so the legitimacy of the election is going to be called into question," Yoshina said.

"I think we are the source of the numbers. Our numbers have been proven to be on target. And so I'd like to continue that process," he said.

What's at stake in this year's races There are 127 races in this year's elections, the highest number ever: >> U.S. House: 2 seats >> Governor: 1 seat >> Lieutenant governor: 1 seat >> State Senate: 25 seats >> State House: 51 seats >> Honolulu City Council: 9 seats >> Hawaii County Council: 9 seats >> Maui mayor: 1 seat >> Maui County Council: 9 seats >> Kauai mayor: 1 seat >> Kauai County Council: 7 seats >> Board of Education: 6 seats >> Office of Hawaiian Affairs: 5 seats Source: Office of Elections