Question: What safeguards are in place to prevent people from voting in more than one state? My son recently registered and voted on the mainland, where he's in school, but his name was still on the list at my polling place on Election Day. Since poll workers just check identity, what's to stop somebody from voting early/absentee on the mainland and in person in Hawaii (or vice versa)?

Answer: People “;should know that, first and foremost, it is a felony to vote more than once at both federal and local levels,”; said city Elections Administrator Glen Takahashi.

But, at this point, there really is no way to prevent someone intent on voting in multiple states from doing so.

Asked if that means, on Election Day nationally, there really is no way to detect whether someone has voted in multiple states, he answered, “;Yes.”;

Unlike the driver's license process, Takahashi said, Congress has yet to pass any legislation mandating a national voter list or “;interoperability”;—the ability to communicate with other state voter databases.

However, most states, including Hawaii, participate in a voluntary program for sharing information when voters indicate they have moved but were registered to vote in another state, he said.

“;The program enables election officials to transmit that information to allow the removal of that person from the voter rolls if reported through the program,”; he said.

Regarding people voting absentee, Takahashi said poll books do annotate voters who voted absentee locally.

For residents with relatives who are not in Hawaii but still receive election mail, Takahashi encourages you to return the voter postcard sent to that person as “;undeliverable”; or forward it to be filled out and returned.

Q: About Aug. 14, I called the city Department of Planning and Permitting to complain about businesses along Kapahulu Avenue that have large umbrellas with their names on them. An official explained that if they are found to be in violation, they will be given a notice and fined if they do not comply with the law. I then filed a complaint about two businesses. I called back on Sept. 9 and was told the businesses had been given a notice and would be fined if they did not comply. It's been months and nothing has been done. Are they being fined?

A: This is an example of the wheels of government turning slowly, mainly because of a backlog of cases and more major violations to deal with.

Consider the case of the house on Gulick Avenue in Kalihi, where a makeshift structure housing 53 people collapsed last month. A notice of violation in that case was first issued in 2005.

In this case, after notices of violations were issued, it was determined that “;multiple parcels”; instead of one are involved, said Henry Eng, director of Planning and Permitting.

The department has done a title search on each property as part of the process before issuing a Notice of Order.

“;We are presently backlogged in terms of this aspect of our enforcement activity,”; he acknowledged, so no fines have yet been issued. Once an order is issued, “;fines will accrue until correction,”; he said.