Question: My wife and I recently downsized from our single-family home to a high-rise apartment. We filed a forwarding notice with the U.S. Postal Service and have been receiving our important mail, although in general we don’t get too much mail anymore. Will we receive our ballots this way as well? I’m not too worried about the primary election, but we do want to make sure we vote in the general election.
Answer: No. “Mail ballots are not forwardable, meaning the USPS is not permitted to deliver ballots to any address other than the one indicated on the mail ballot. This allows election officials greater oversight on ensuring the proper delivery of mail ballots. Therefore, if you move or change your mailing address, you must update your voter registration to receive your ballot to our new address. Ballots that are not deliverable are returned to the County Elections Division and trigger list maintenance procedures,” according to the state Office of Elections, which explains voting procedures on its website, elections.hawaii.gov.
You can update your voter registration at olvr.hawaii.gov. To access the online system, you’ll need to input your Hawaii driver’s license or Hawaii state ID number and the last four digits of your Social Security number. If you have renewed your driver’s license or state ID since moving, your voter registration may be current, which you can check at the aforementioned website. “For registered voters completing a driver license or State ID card application at the Department of Motor Vehicles, the information provided will automatically be used to update their name and/or address for voter registration purposes, unless the applicant declines,” according to the elections office.
If you prefer, you can update your voter registration using a paper form, which you can download and print at either of the aforementioned websites and then submit to your county elections office. The office addresses are listed on the form.
Q: Will I be able to update my voter registration if I no longer have a valid Hawaii driver’s license? I do valid have a U.S. passport.
A: Yes, but you will need to submit the paper form, because you must prove not only your name, age (18 or older) and U.S. citizenship, but also your Hawaii residency. The Hawaii Voter Registration Application can be used for first-time registration or to update an existing registration, to reflect a name change, address change or signature update.
People who fill out the application and don’t have a Hawaii driver’s license or state ID to prove their residency may provide “a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address,” the form says.
You can download the form online, as we mentioned in the previous question, or pick up a hard copy at “U.S. post offices, state libraries, satellite city halls, most state agencies, county elections divisions” or the state Office of Elections, according to the state elections website.
Mahalo
Mahalo to the kind young man who helped me get my bearings when I was walking recently near Waikele Country Club. It was hot out, and I had ventured a little farther than usual and so I stopped to rest because I didn’t want to text anyone in my family to come pick me up because I was a little embarrassed. But then this kind passerby stopped and checked on me out of concern, and it made me realize that I should just call home for a ride, which I did. I hadn’t brought a water bottle with me, which was a mistake on such a hot day. — A reader
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
