Joe Biden wins Hawaii Democratic presidential primary with 63% of ranked-choice votes
ASSOCIATED PRESS / MARCH 7
Former Vice President Joe Biden acknowledges the crowd during a campaign rally in Kansas City, Mo.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / MAY 22
Jennifer Todice, left, and Aria Castillo, volunteers to count ballots at the Hukilau restaurant on Bishop Street in downtown Honolulu.
ASSOCIATED PRESS / MAY 22
The party expected most members to vote by mail and some to cast ballots at about 20 in-person polling sites. But concerns about the virus forced the party to cancel in-person voting and allow only mail ballots.
Stay updated on Hawaii and national elections coverageFormer Vice President Joe Biden has won the Democratic presidential primary in Hawaii, surpassing the second place candidate by more than 25 percentage points, the Democratic Party of Hawaii announced today.
Biden received 63.2% of the ranked-choice votes, or 21,214 votes, while Sen. Bernie Sanders received 36.8%, or 12,337 ranked-choice votes.
In total, 79,150 ballots were mailed to registered party members, and 35,044, or about 44.28%, were returned by mail.
The election, which had been scheduled for April 4, but was extended because of the coronavirus outbreak, was the first year Hawaii’s party-run presidential primary was conducted by mail. In 2016, 33,713 Democrats participated in the in-person presidential preference poll.
The deadline for the ballots to be received by mail was Friday.
Biden will receive five delegates from Congressional District 1 and five delegates from CD2, for a total of 10 delegates. Sanders will receive two delegates from CD1 and three from CD2 for a total of five.
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In addition to the 15 delegates, the Democratic Party of Hawaii is sending six at-large and three party leader and elected official delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August in Milwaukee, Wis. Per an agreement between the Biden and Sanders campaigns, Sanders will receive his share of those delegates.
The allocation will be 16 delegates for Biden and eight delegates for Sanders.
Sanders, of Vermont, dropped out of the presidential race in April, but stayed on the ballot in states with upcoming primaries to try to influence the party’s platform.
The Democratic Party of Hawaii’s presidential primary is separate from Hawaii’s state-run primary and general elections, which will be held Aug. 8 and Nov. 3, respectively.
