Detractors show up every day at Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale to vote in person and to loudly complain about Hawaii’s mail-in ballot process, which voters overwhelmingly prefer.
The volume and number of complaints about mail-in ballots by people voting in person at voter service centers coincides with former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss and repeated claims that the election was “stolen.”
The complaints to Honolulu election employees happen in every Hawaii county, said Honolulu
Election Administrator
Rex Quidilla.
None of the incidents have turned violent or threatening, Quidilla said, but they can be “loud and uncomfortable for anyone in earshot.”
In one instance a voter confronted a voter service center manager and “came within a centimeter of his face,” Quidilla said.
He declined to identify which political party the mail-in complainers tend to support but said they are part of the national “denier movement, the anti-vote-by-mail movement.”
“They say vote-by-mail is illegitimate, and they have concerns that we’re cheating, cheating,” Quidilla said. “So far, no one has had to be removed from a service center, but it’s happening in Hilo and Kona and Lihue.”
In the 2022 midterm elections, there were even complaints about having to fill out a form with basic information such as an address to verify voter eligibility, Quidilla said.
“That caused many
confrontations,” he said.
Federal law prohibits threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their
input.
State Election Chief Scott T. Nago said no Hawaii elections workers have been threatened, unlike some
incidents on the mainland.
But county and state officials are working with federal officials to protect election workers, especially following increasing threats on the mainland.
While one mail-in ballot drop box at Connie Chun Aliamanu Neighborhood Park in Salt Lake was tagged by graffiti in late September, Quidilla said he doubts it was related to the general election because city garbage cans and park walls also were vandalized with graffiti.
There has been no damage like the arson fires set off in drop boxes in Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash.
In the previous presidential election, which pitted Trump against President Joe Biden, 69.6% of registered voters cast ballots for a total turnout of 579,784.
Some 551,036 of them — or 95% — voted by mail. Only 28,748 voted in person, representing just 5% of all votes cast.
On Oahu only 17,204 voters — or 3.1% — voted in person.
Since 2020 the first tally of election results represents all mail-in ballots, which has made it easier to see voting trends early ahead of the final results.
But although small in numbers, those who vote in person have disrupted the timely release of election returns since 2020 because Hawaii election law prohibits the release of any results until the last person in line by
7 p.m. has voted.
Any eligible voter also can register on Election Day and vote, further holding up lines of voters.
In 2020 and again in the 2022 midterm elections, long lines of in-person voters wrapped around Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale.
Combined with similar lines of voters across the state, the release of election results was delayed until the last person voted.
Quidilla expects more of the same Tuesday.
With this year’s presidential election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in a statistical dead heat, Quidilla said, “The lines are going to be really, really, really long” — a sentiment shared by Nago at the state elections level.
For anyone who has not registered to vote and wants to vote in person, Quidilla encouraged them to register online ahead of time to speed up the process once they arrive at a voter service center to vote in person — especially on Tuesday.
Elections were designated nationally as critical infrastructure by the Department of Homeland Security in 2017, Nago said, meaning constant coordination among federal and state and county agencies regarding election security.
“However, this also comes with greater vigilance about not disclosing security procedures or similar matters that bad actors could use to
compromise our elections,” Nago said. “We are not aware of any threats or attempts to interfere with early voting. … We are all very aware of the current climate and are keeping that in mind at various points in the electoral
process.”
Honolulu City Clerk Glen I. Takahashi told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser there are some voters with “an ax to grind” with the way that Hawaii votes because some people prefer to vote in a polling place.
“We are not following the way of some places on the mainland, and I hope it continues that way through the next week,” Takahashi said. “I’m glad Hawaii people have aloha and are rising above. That’s how it should be.”
Across the country, election officials are on alert to protect local election officials and voters and deter work by foreign actors to influence and undermine the electoral process.
Hawaii was among 16 states to receive an envelope of benign white powder as part of a domestic terror scare ahead of voting.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement to the Star-Advertiser that it
“cannot comment on the
existence (or lack thereof) of any potential ongoing investigations related to election threats.”
On Oct. 15, U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors of the District of Hawaii named Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Nammar as the state lead
for the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day
Program.
Nammar is responsible for overseeing Hawaii’s “handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election,” Connors said in a statement. “Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence. The Department of Justice will always work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the election process.”
Nammar will be on duty while the polls are open and can be reached by the public at 808-541-2850.
The FBI will have special agents available in each field office nationwide to receive “allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day.” The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at 808-566-4300.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., by complaint form at civilrights.justice.gov or by phone at 800-253-3931.
“Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate. It is important that those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice,” Connors said.
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