There were no lines at Honolulu Hale at 7 a.m. nor at closing time at 7 p.m. Saturday, as a steady stream of residents walked in or drove by to either drop off their primary election ballots or vote in person.
In-person registration and voting had been available at Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale for more than two weeks, and officials said the election day scenario this year was far different from the long lines seen in 2020.
“At 7 a.m. we had a short line,” said Honolulu City Clerk Glenn Takahashi, “but that quickly disappeared when we opened.”
Statewide, the only long lines were reported at the voter service center in Wailuku, Maui, according to Nedielyn Bueno, spokesperson for the state Office of Elections.
On Oahu, many found the drive-thru yellow drop box in front of Honolulu Hale convenient for depositing their ballots — by car or on foot. It was one of 15 drop box locations on the island.
Voters had plenty of opportunities to send in or drop off their ballots before Saturday, but many, like Cathy Schwarz of Nuuanu, didn’t get to it until the last day simply because they have been busy.
Schwarz said she’s been “busy with life,” as she works multiple jobs, helps her parents and cares for her disabled husband.
“So I have a lot on my plate,” she said as she walked up to the drop box at Honolulu Hale with her ballot. “That’s why it’s important to get someone in there who’s willing to help people with cost of living and stop selling to foreign investors and tourists who live here two months out of the year.”
Antonia Agbannawag of Kakaako walked over with her dog, Tiger, to deposit her ballot.
She said she likes the ability to fill out a ballot in the comfort of her home but wanted to physically walk over to Honolulu Hale to drop it off Saturday.
“I love the fanfare of primary day,” she said. “I love filling out my ballot just before making the best decision that we can and then coming to the polls.”
This is a pivotal year, Agbannawag said, and she wanted to take in every detail up to the last stretch to make her decision.
“We have a new governor and lieutenant governor,” she said. “Obviously, we’ll find out who’s running together for the general but also nearly every seat for House and Senate is up for grabs and it could be a clean slate.”
At Kapolei Hale, drive-thru ballot drop-off was not available, and voters had to find parking.
Joe Akana, a Republican candidate for Congressional District 2, expressed concern about the lack of crosswalks at Kapolei Hale, which he said resulted in a $130 jaywalking ticket for at least one resident after they voted at the location earlier in the week.
In a news release Friday, Akana said that if a voter parks on Uluohia Street across from Kapolei Hale, the only viable crosswalk in the area is nearly 1,000 feet away. He said officials had plenty of time to prepare and expressed concern that issuing jaywalking tickets instead of providing safe crosswalks would result in the “unintended side effect” of voter suppression.
Neither the county elections office nor city officials responded to email requests for comment by deadline Saturday.
On Maui, voters waited in long lines at the only voter service center available on the island, at the Velma McWayne Santos Community Center in Wailuku.
Maui County Clerk Kathy Kaohu said in an email that voters had been able to cast in-person votes at the Wailuku center since Aug. 1.
“The County Clerks Office had been given a heads up to prepare for a wave of voters preparing to vote in person,” she said. “In preparation of that we hired Temporary Election Clerks, contracted a Temporary Employment Services provider, and solicited the general public to participate as ‘stipend volunteer’ election workers, including school age students 16 years and older.”
Kaohu thinks more residents chose to vote in person Saturday due to a number of factors, including more than the usual full slates of candidates facing off in the primary election and efforts by candidates, political parties and election organizers to encourage voters to vote in person on primary election day instead of in advance.
While some voters said they enjoyed the convenience of ballots they could fill out at home and drop off, others said they wanted to participate in the voting process in person to ensure their votes were counted.
Lauren Pierce of Kailua dropped off her ballot at the drop box at Kailua District Park late Saturday afternoon.
Due to a busy schedule, she said she was not able to mail it in time for Saturday’s deadline or get to it until the last few hours, so the drop box was a convenient option. She would have had no problems mailing it in, otherwise.
“I just wanted to do my part, last minute, before it closed so I don’t regret anything,” she said. “I think this one is pretty important.”
Others, such as Margaret and Brad Hovas of Manoa, expressed concerns about the potential for the mishandling of ballots and voter fraud.
“Basically, we don’t trust mail-in voting,” said Brad Hovas, saying he did not support the state’s decision to do so. “In a democracy, if an individual feels that they have the ability to participate, it becomes something of a specific event in their life. They want to vote in person.”
Margaret Hovas said voting in person has the additional benefit of bringing the community together.
“Growing up, I would always go with my mom or my dad to vote and we knew all the ladies and we talked to them all, and they lived in our neighborhoods,” she said. “And so we used to go to Noelani (Elementary School) and sometimes we’d see neighbors we hadn’t seen in a while and I miss that. And I think that keeps us together as a community. We can see and interact with our neighbors to do what we consider a right, a privilege, and a duty to our country.”
Those who voted in person said all went smoothly, and overall that it was an easy in-and-out process without long lines or waits.
David Kihara of Honolulu said it took him only about 10 minutes to vote in person. He said it was satisfying to personally witness his ballot go through the machine and to know it was counted.
“It’s like a reinforcement of what I personally believe,” he said. “After what happened in the 2020 election, for my vote, I wanted to see it go through.”
Likewise, Michelle Stuebben, who usually votes absentee, said she and her husband drove to Honolulu Hale from Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe to cast their votes in person.
“This is my first time showing up in person, and it was important to me to show up in person,” she said. “There’s some history in ballots being dropped off in boxes and then you don’t really know whose hands they’re in after that. Just trying to protect election integrity was really important to me.”
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