Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s proposal to conduct future Hawaii elections by mail remains alive in the Legislature with Senate Bill 854, which would start a planning process that could lead to all-mail voting in 2016.
With nearly half of Hawaii voters already casting absentee ballots, any further shift to voting by mail must be accompanied by tighter controls on fraud, voter intimidation and other potential abuses.
Abercrombie proposed the change after last year’s electoral incompetence that disenfranchised thousands of voters because of late-opening polling places on Hawaii island and ballot shortages on Oahu.
The state Elections Commission meted out no staff discipline for the foul-ups, leaving the public with little hope for an end to balloting snags that contribute to Hawaii’s lowest-in-the-nation voter turnout.
All-mail voting, which Oregon has successfully enacted, could potentially reduce the number of moving parts in the administration of elections.
Any new system, however, has its own pitfalls, and we should be prepared for them before diving in.
The potential for fraud and intimidation increases when voters cast their ballots away from the well-monitored security of traditional polling places.
In the 2012 Democratic primary for a Kalihi House seat, questions were raised about Rep. Romy Cachola’s admission that he helped elderly voters cast absentee ballots in his race against Nicole Velasco.
Velasco won 60 percent of the walk-in vote from the district’s four precincts and also won the mail-ins from three of the four precincts, according to data compiled by Honolulu Civil Beat.
But in the mail-in vote from the fourth precinct, Cachola got 685 votes to 243 for Velasco, enough to win the election by 120 votes.
Cachola has said he simply assists voters who have language difficulties in understanding the ballot.
He insisted he crossed no line of impropriety, but it’s unclear where the line is under current law, and there was no apparent investigation.
House Bill 1027, which was passed by the Judiciary Committee last week, would apply to mail-in voting the same privacy and intimidation standards as in-person balloting.
The measure would bar candidates,employers orunions from helping voters complete mail-in ballots, and voters would have to sign affirmations that their ballots were completed in secrecy and without influence from others.
Mailed ballots would be required to include information on election fraud and penalties.
It’s a good start, but a missing element is a mechanism for strong and proactive enforcement.
With our lack of a true two-party system, low voter turnout and constant problems at polling places, Hawaii has a reputation for not taking elections seriously.
The Legislature could start changing the perception with reforms that demonstrate real commitment to our right to vote in privacy and without intimidation or bureaucratic barriers.
