Early voters in the special election for Congress will be able to cast walk-in absentee ballots when they go Christmas shopping at the Pearlridge Center. Pearlridge added
to voting listThe satellite city hall there
Dems to try vote plan
will accept absentee ballotsBy Craig Gima
cgima@starbulletin.comBeginning Wednesday, registered voters in the 2nd Congressional District will be able to vote early at the satellite city hall at Pearlridge.
In an earlier announcement, the city and state Office of Elections said the only walk-in voting site on Oahu would be at Honolulu Hale.
But Honolulu County Clerk Genny Wong said free parking will not be available at city hall because of the Honolulu City Lights display, so a decision was made last week to add Pearlridge as an early voting site.
Honolulu Hale and Pearlridge are both located outside of the 2nd Congressional District, but Wong said Pearlridge is accessible to Leeward residents and to Windward residents if they come over the H-3 freeway.
She said city hall is also accessible to people who live in the district but work downtown.
Wong said there are no plans to add Windward Mall or other sites in the 2nd Congressional District to the list of walk-in absentee voting sites.
The poll at Pearlridge will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. It will be closed on Christmas and New Year's Day.
Absentee voting ends on Jan. 2. The special election is scheduled for Jan. 4.
Other absentee walk-in sites are in the county buildings in Maui, Kauai and Hilo; and the Keauhou Shopping Center in Kona.
The Jan. 4 election is necessary because U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink posthumously won re-election in the Nov. 5 general election. She died Sept. 28 after suffering from viral pneumonia for a month.
The 2nd Congressional District encompasses the neighbor islands and Windward Oahu, the North Shore and much of Leeward Oahu.
Wong said absentee ballots are also available by mail until Dec. 28. About 3,500 requests for absentee mail-in ballots have been received so far and about 1,000 ballots have been returned.
State Office of Elections