Some 480,000 registered voters across Oahu should receive their primary election ballots in the mail sometime next week — which can be mailed back or dropped off by Election Day on Aug. 10 to vote for preferred candidates.
Registered voters who do not receive a ballot next week — or have yet to receive a yellow “Notice of Voter Registration” card in the mail — are urged to contact Honolulu election officials by calling 808-768-3800.
If any registered voter hasn’t received a ballot
by next week, “There’s something wrong,” Honolulu Elections Administrator Rex Quidilla said Tuesday at
Honolulu Hale. “Don’t wait.”
For the third election in a row, the vast majority of Oahu’s registered voters are encouraged to again cast their votes by mail-in ballot.
Voters need to ensure that they sign the back of their ballot return envelopes — or else face follow-up verification — to ensure their votes are counted by Election Day. Verifying voters’ ballots that lack signatures “takes time,” Quidila said. “We can’t accept it if it’s not signed.”
Any incorrectly filled out ballots can be remedied by requesting a new ballot or by visiting any of Oahu’s four “voter service centers” ahead of the final ballot counting on election day, Quidilla said.
To ensure any voter mistakes are correctly counted, Quidilla said, “Don’t try to correct it with White Out or erasing.”
Despite continued, unfounded claims of election malfeasance, Honolulu
elections officials urged Honolulu voters to continue to vote early and by mail-in ballot ahead of the Aug. 10 party primaries to help ensure a timely count of votes in races for county, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Oahu legislative seats.
Residents can register to vote online or even in person on Election Day and still have their votes counted as long as they are in line by 7 p.m. on Aug. 10.
But Quidilla urged voters to help ensure a timely count of election results
by voting early in person
or by mailing in their
ballots.
“Skip the line, vote by mail,” he said.
Honolulu elections officials plan to line up people who arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day to ensure they are allowed to vote in person or to drop off their mail-in ballots in accordance with state law.
But those who drop off their mail-in ballots on Election Day are not assured that their votes will be
reported that night, and their preferences likely will not be counted until the following Sunday, Quidilla said.
Any “close races will not be determined until then,” he said.
So far, Quidilla said with relief, elections officials and volunteers have yet to receive the kinds of threats seen in parts of the mainland as the heated presidential election approaches on
Nov. 5.
“It’s been nice and quiet for us and we’re thankful for that,” Quidilla said.