Gathering Places
Gathering Places
In the 2002 session, the Legislature passed a bill with a provision requiring special elections not held in conjunction with our regular primary and general elections to be conducted by mail. For reasons not connected to this provision, the governor vetoed the bill. Lawmakers should give
mail-only voting a tryHad this bill been enacted into law, the Nov. 30 special election to fill the remainder of the late Rep. Patsy Mink's unexpired term, and the second special election in January to fill the vacancy left by her death should she posthumously win in the general election on Nov. 5, could have been conducted by mail.
We propose that the state consider conducting the January election, if it becomes necessary, entirely by mail. This would mean convening a special session of the 2003 Legislature soon after the general election to enact enabling legislation.
Special elections are notorious for their low voter turnout. The special election to fill Andy Mirikitani's seat on the Honolulu City Council drew a pitiful 27.5 percent of the registered voters in District 5. This winner-take-all election had 14 candidates, and Ann Kobayashi won with 40.1 percent of the votes -- that is, 40.1 percent of the 12,376 voters who participated -- in a district with generally a high voter turnout.
The same low turnout was true for the 1978 special election to select delegates for the 1978 Constitutional Convention. Two delegates were to be elected from 51 representative districts, using the same winner-take-all system. The delegates for this important event were selected by a mere 35 percent of registered voters. There were so many candidates in many of the districts that a few of the delegates got in with as little as 10 percent of the votes -- that is, 10 percent of the 35 percent who voted.
The experiences of mainland jurisdictions that conduct vote-by-mail elections (VBM) indicate a substantial increase in voter participation. In Oregon's special election by VBM in 1996 to fill the unexpired term of Sen. Bob Packwood, there was a 66 percent return, which is considered excellent. Oregon followed this with a special presidential primary by mail, and the participation was greater than in all previous state primaries.
The January election, if it becomes necessary, is too important to be decided by a small segment of the population. With the nation on the brink of war, a continuing need to prevent terrorists from wreaking havoc here, many important domestic issues still not addressed, and judicial appointments going through the approval process -- appointments that will have far-reaching effects on national policies -- more citizens need to get involved in this election. Why would we want to allow a small fraction of our citizens to decide who will represent us on such important matters?
Another important consideration is that there could be cost savings. Today we use a dual system of poll-site voting and absentee voting, which is essentially voting by mail. In fact, in the 2002 primary election a little more than 30 percent of the total votes were cast through absentee ballots, and that is sure to increase with every election. So the state must make provisions for both systems, with the attendant costs for each.
There are many problems related to poll-site voting for special elections. Finding suitable polling sites is a challenge, especially when there is little lead time. The sites used in regularly scheduled elections may not be available, resulting in voter confusion. Staffing the polling sites was a huge problem in the September primary. Without dedicated regulars to staff the bulk of the teams needed at each site, training becomes crucial, and presents a huge challenge for the Elections Office staff.
Isn't the election of a delegate to Congress of sufficient importance that we might want to put in place -- for special elections only -- a system that would undoubtedly increase voter participation, while probably saving us money?
Jean Y. Aoki is legislative chairwoman of
the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.