State elections officials began counting the ballots in the special election for Congress yesterday while the top candidates made last-minute appeals to voters.

Republican Charles Djou attempted to capitalize on the ouster of longtime incumbents in recent primary elections on the mainland, urging Hawaii voters to buck the status quo.

Democrats Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa continued to get out and about in the district, canvassing for votes in an attempt to reverse the trend in most public polls that showed Djou in the lead.

Ballots in the mail-in special election are due by 6 p.m. Saturday.

The state Office of Elections said about 146,000 (46 percent) of the 317,000 ballots sent to voters in the district had been returned as of yesterday afternoon.

That figure includes about 1,200 votes cast through walk-in voting at Honolulu Hale that began May 10 and ends today. Ballots may be turned in by hand at drop-off boxes at the state Office of Elections in Pearl City and at a drop-off box on the Beretania Street side of the state Capitol by the St. Damien statue.

  Candidates reach out to non-voters

 

The candidates themselves are reaching out for what they call “;low propensity voters,”; people who don't intend to vote, are procrastinating, or just forgot.

 

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Elections officials also noted that of the total ballots mailed, about 20,000 were returned due to bad addresses.

“;There's always a certain percentage that will bounce back,”; said elections spokesman Rex Quidilla, noting that the amount returned this year is on par with the return rate from the two City Council special elections last year.

The Office of Elections began counting the ballots in a conference room at the state Capitol.

Officials expect to be able to announce a winner soon after the deadline.

Candidates, meanwhile, continued scrapping for every last vote.

Djou sent a message to supporters pointing to the defeat of incumbents in Utah, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Arkansas over the past two weeks as proof that Americans are “;tiring of insiders.”;

“;People want their government back and my candidacy is proof of just that,”; Djou said.

Case's camp continued hammering Djou for his comments last week to a Washington, D.C., newspaper declaring the race was “;pretty much over.”;

“;Djou's math only works if people don't vote,”; Case campaign chairwoman Jackie Kido said in a message to supporters. “;Your vote absolutely counts.”;

Hanabusa walked through Chinatown yesterday, meeting voters, and also appealed to her supporters to return their ballots.

“;This election is going to be close,”; she said in an e-mail. “;We have a chance to launch our campaign for the primary and general elections as the proven front-runner.”;