Neighborhood board ballots
sent for Oahu vote

The city recently began mailing ballots for neighborhood board elections to 215,000 Oahu residents.

Each voter should receive a ballot, a return envelope and an information sheet with brief descriptions of each candidate.

Neighborhood Commission Executive Secretary Baybee Hufana-Ablan said that two problems have been reported.

One problem occurred when 614 registered voters on Wikao Street in Waikakalaua Valley erroneously received ballots for the Wahiawa Neighborhood Board No. 26. Those homes are actually represented by the Mililani Mauka-Launani Valley Neighborhood Board. The city is mailing new voter packets to those voters. Bad ballots will not be counted.

A contractor error led to the second problem of wrong information sheets being sent to 10,897 voters in some Waianae neighborhood subdistricts. The correct ballots were sent. Those Waianae residents who have already voted and wish to change their vote should contact the Neighborhood Commission at 527-5579 for new ballots. Residents in the affected Waianae subdistricts who have not yet voted should receive the new information sheets by early next week. The same information can be viewed on the Neighborhood Commission Web site, www.honolulu.gov/nco.

A total of 538 candidates are running for 444 seats on the 32 neighborhood boards. Ballots will not be mailed to voters where there are uncontested races.

Ballots must be returned to the city postmarked no later than April 18.

Results will be announced on May 1. The election winners will begin their two-year term of office on June 1.

Hufana-Ablan said all voters should receive their ballots by the end of next week. Those who do not should call the Neighborhood Commission.