Question: Is the city sending out ballots for the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board? They announced there would be a revote due to technical difficulties in the first round, but I have not received a ballot and neither have my neighbors.
Answer: No. The Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board has 11 subdistricts, and the revote is for only one of them: Subdistrict 11 (Koko Head and Portlock). Voting will be entirely online, according to Oahu’s Neighborhood Commission Office.
Subdistrict 11 voters will receive mailers, but they will include PIN codes and pass codes to vote online, not paper ballots. The mailers went out Tuesday. Voting will run through July 7.
For a map of Subdistrict 11 and a list of the streets it includes, follow the links at honolulu.gov/nco/boards.html.
The revote is necessary because the city’s electronic voting system malfunctioned, preventing Subdistrict 11 residents from submitting their votes the first week of the April 28-May 19 voting period, the NCO said Monday in a news release. Votes did go through from May 4 at 5:16 p.m. and onward, after the city’s Department of Information Technology fixed the problem. However, 28 people who had tried in vain to vote before the repair didn’t try again after the system was working, it said.
Ultimately, 31 votes were counted in Subdistrict 11, barely more than the 28 failed voting attempts.
“There is no other way to look at it other than to allow everyone in Subdistrict 11 to vote again,” NCO Executive Secretary Lloyd Yonenaka said in the news release. “It is fair and it gives everyone a chance to make their vote count. This is really about making sure every community has a chance to participate in their election.”
The revote will be entirely online. Individuals who need online access can call the NCO at 808-768-3710 or email nco@honolulu.gov. “The NCO will provide staff and online access in a physical location in Hawaii Kai,” the news release said.
Q: Will Oahu’s half-percent GET surcharge be deleted now that the rail is operational?
A: No, the general excise tax surcharge that took effect on Oahu on Jan. 1, 2007, to help fund rail-transit construction is not set to expire until Dec. 31, 2030, according to the state Department of Taxation, which explains on its website how businesses collect and report the county surcharge. Read details at tax.hawaii.gov/geninfo/countysurcharge.
Oahu’s “rail tax” — the 0.5% surcharge added to the state GET of 4% — was originally set to expire at the end of 2022 but was extended.
The rail system, called Skyline, is to begin limited operations June 30.
Q: Kudos to the car registration kiosk at the Safeway Kapahulu store. I’m going to the mainland soon and was afraid my car registration would expire while I am gone if I used the online/mail system, so with some trepidation I used the Safeway Kapahulu kiosk and, wow, it worked like a charm. I was done in under one minute, and left with my new car registration and sticker in hand. It was probably the most user-friendly system that I’ve ever used.
A: DMV Now kiosks offer quick self-service whenever the store where they are located is open; there are eight on Oahu, according to Honolulu’s Department of Customer Services. At the kiosk the customer scans their motor vehicle registration renewal notice or enters their license plate number and ZIP code; pays with a credit card or debit card; and prints their registration card and license plate emblem. Many readers appreciate the convenience, even though they don’t love the 2.5% credit/debit card fee and $4 remote-transaction fee.
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.
