Clarify absentee ballot rules in future primaries

THE ISSUE The state Republican Party chairman says absentee ballots in the primary election may cause confusion.

AN INCREASING percentage of Hawaii residents are casting their votes by absentee ballot, raising concerns about whether voters will make errors without the assistance of election workers at polling stations. The brochure provided with the ballot makes the process clear, but a message at the top of the ballot itself should remind voters in future primaries that they must vote in only one party's column.

Sam Aiona, chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party, said he would not be surprised by "a large amount of spoiled ballots" cast by mail in the Sept. 23 primary election. "We've heard reports of people confused about the layout of the ballot," he told the Star-Bulletin's Crystal Kua.

They would not be terribly confused if they read the accompanying brochure, also available on the Web site of the state Office of Elections, before proceeding to the ballot. In a box tagged "Primary Election Ballot Color Code," it says, "Each political party/nonpartisan ballot is indicated by its own color. Pick only one color. Only vote for candidates in that one color-coded ballot section."

If the voter remains confused, the brochure adds this dose of redundancy on the same page: "Vote within one political party ballot only (one color) PLUS the Special Nonpartisan Offices Ballot (white ballot on back)." Demonstration ballots are shown in the background, with a Democratic column topped with purple (in color as well as spelled out) and the Republican Party bearing yellow. Any more clarification would be insulting.

Glen Takahashi, the city elections administrator, says he asks people who pick up absentee ballots from his offices to read all the directions first, but some neglect to do so. Only after beginning to mark in the ovals do they discover "that they voted in every single color, and they realize that they made a mistake."

The mistakes may become more common in this primary election because of two high-profile races on opposite sides. Many Republicans may wish to cast votes in the GOP race in the 2nd Congressional District for either state Sen. Bob Hogue or Quentin Kawananakoa, then in the Democratic Senate contest between incumbent Sen. Dan Akaka and Rep. Ed Case.

The winner in the Akaka-Case primary will not face serious opposition in the November general election. Case, a moderate who appeals to many Republicans, is hoping they will vote purple, but jumping back and forth is disallowed and such a ballot will be tossed into the trash.

Spoiled ballots could have a decisive consequence in what many foresee as a close Senate primary. According to state election statistics, voters who took an absentee ballot rose from 11 percent in the 2000 general election to 16.3 percent in 2002 to 20.7 percent in 2004.