Absentee ballots criticized

Some say the new packet and instruction sheet are confusing

A new absentee voter instruction sheet and high interest in a couple of primary election races could be causing confusion for some absentee voters, raising questions on whether such ballots will be filled out correctly.

Absentee info If you have any questions on absentee voting, here is where you can call in your respective county: » City and County of Honolulu Clerk, 523-4293 » Hawaii County Clerk, 961-8277 » Kauai County Clerk, 241-6350 » Maui County Clerk, 270-7749 » State Office of Elections, 453-8683 or, from the neighbor islands, 800-442-8683 » Online: www.hawaii.gov/elections Voting absentee? » Make sure to read all instructions before marking your ballot. » In the primary, voters are allowed to vote only for candidates in one party. » Democrats may vote for candidates in the purple Democratic ballot. » Republicans may vote for candidates in the yellow Republican ballot. » When in doubt, call election officials.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there is a large amount of spoiled ballots," said Sam Aiona, chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party.

Election officials said there is one thing voters can do to avoid voting incorrectly: Read all the instructions before marking the ballot.

"Absentee voters assume a greater responsibility when they vote absentee," said Rex Quidilla, spokesman for the state Office of Elections.

Mail-in absentee voting has already begun for the Sept. 23 primary election, which nominates candidates within each party to move on to the general election. Voters are allowed to vote only for candidates in one party.

The state Office of Elections included in the absentee voting packet a new instruction sheet to help voters.

But absentee voter Elaine Wilson said she does not think the instruction sheet is clear enough on how to vote in the single-party process, and it does not have a phone number to call if the voter has a question or needs a new ballot. The instruction sheet instructs absentee voters to call the clerk's office.

"This is too important of an election," she said.

Aiona agrees with some of these sentiments.

"I've heard of people who are confused with the ballot in the way it's presented. We've heard reports of people confused about the layout of the ballot," Aiona said. "Some are not sure what to do, and so perhaps the instructions aren't clear enough."

Quidilla said that the instruction sheet was designed for use in all four counties as a way to provide more guidance on how to vote in the single-party primary.

"The Office of Elections felt that an additional piece again notifying of the single-party primary would be beneficial," Quidilla said.

Because absentee voters do not have election workers there to answer questions as they would if they voted at the polls, they need to make sure they read all the directions, election officials said.

And while the city or county clerk office phone number for each respective county is not listed on the instruction sheets, the ballot envelopes do list the county or city clerk's office, and the phone numbers can be found on the elections Web site, the phone book and other election literature, including the absentee voting application.

Glen Takahashi, city elections administrator, said absentee voters have found their way to the city clerk's office because they have called requesting replacement ballots. He also emphasizes to read all the directions first.

"I think a lot of people want to get straight to the ballot. They start marking in, and then they look at the instructions and go, 'Oh, wait a second,'" Takahashi said. "Then they discovered that they voted in every single color, and they realize that they made a mistake."

Another factor complicating the absentee voter process in the primary is two races with a lot of interest.

One is the U.S. Senate race between Democrats incumbent Sen. Daniel Akaka and U.S. Rep. Ed Case. Only those voting on the purple Democratic Party ballot will be able to vote in this race.

"What we're noticing is that people want to vote in the U.S. Senate race and vote for our Republican candidates as well. We have to explain to them that you have to vote on only one party ballot," Aiona said. "We are encouraging our supporters to vote Republican. We have some excellent primaries, and we have the congressional district, too.

The other race is the 2nd Congressional District race to replace Case.

Takahashi said they have had questions from people who want to vote for a specific candidate in that race but cannot find that candidate on the ballot. Then it turns out that that person lives in the 1st Congressional District, which is primarily urban Honolulu.

"They can call and find it, and we can check and verify," Takahashi said. "A lot of people, I think, are interested in that 2nd Congressional race, and so they may be expecting to see it on their ballot."

But both parties are concerned enough about the potential for mistakes and cross-over voting that they are doing what they can to minimize errors.

Mike McCartney, Democratic Party chairman, said he is concerned about absentee ballots spoiled by cross-over votes and is asking the elections office to closely watch for absentee ballot mistakes.

McCartney also said the Democrats' Web site is stressing the need for voters to vote in only one party during the primary election.

The Web site tells Democrats to vote in the purple Democratic ballot only, and "if you vote in more than one Party ballot, your ballot will be spoiled."

Republicans are doing the same thing.

"We let them know that the yellow ballot is what they should be voting on," Aiona said.