Final Read—Hawaii Election Results
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Reactions to Trump Election
American Samoa Reelects Republican Aumua Amata with 75%
SN: …In yesterday’s election, the Republican congresswoman’s lead began with results from the polling stations in Manu’a, dominating all five polling stations, followed by the absentee ballots — which included local and off island ballots as well as Swains Islander voters, whose ballots were counted at the Election Office. Amata has dominated the Manu’a polls in the past several elections. And as the results started pouring in from polling stations on Tutuila, it became abundantly clear that Amata would return to Congress.
When the new Congress convenes in January next year, Amata again joins the majority GOP controlled U.S. House and the U.S. Senate and now the US President-elect Donald Trump following yesterday’s national elections across the nation, defeating attempts by the Democrats to again claim the White House and to claim a majority in the US Congress.
Of the total 11,834 ballots counted, Amata received 8,923 votes (75.4%); Suitonu-Chapman 181 votes (1.5%); Paepaetele 978 votes (8.3%); Jones 171 votes (1.4%) and Vaitinasa with 1,581 votes (13.4%), according to the unofficial results, which will be made official three-days after the general election….
read … Samoans on the Winning Team
Grassroot Institute’s Akina upsets Apoliona in OHA at-large race
SA: Keli‘i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, upset Office of Hawaiian Affairs veteran Haunani Apoliona for the OHA at large trustee seat in Tuesday’s General Election, according to final results released this morning.
Akina garnered 163,699 votes, or 37.4 percent, to Apoliona’s 156,158, or 35.7 percent, with the remaining 26.9 percent not voting, after the last 9,000-plus votes were counted early today.
It was Akina’s second campaign for OHA and he recognized the challenge of taking on a well-known incumbent.
“Name recognition is a huge advantage for any candidate who has it, but we’ve made use of all forms of media to build our own name recognition,” Akina said.
“This has been a great opportunity to do something good for the people of Hawaii, both Native Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians. The public has responded tremendously to our message that it’s time for all people to work together.”
Akina had made some headlines himself as plaintiff in the lawsuit that wound up stopping the Na‘i Aupuni Hawaiian self-governance election, which he considered racially discriminatory. The institute he leads is devoted to individual liberty and limited government.
As the polls closed Tuesday evening, Apoliona looked back over her tenure, which includes a decade as OHA chairwoman.
“It definitely has been a building process,” she said. “It’s all about empowering Native Hawaiians in our efforts for self-determination, social and economic development. Having the opportunity to serve for these 20 years, you have the chance to see the improvements and the bigger challenges that await OHA.” ….
FH: Sen Akaka Refuses to Endorse Lindsey
read … No Indian Tribe
Problems plague polling sites in Hawaii—Nago Blames School Janitors
KITV: Elections officials say on Oahu, 18 electronic tabulating machines and 17 electronic voting machines were down….
KITV's Melody Gonzales has more on the island-wide voter frustration.
Completed ballots at the University of Hawaii Lab polling place were left out on an open table.
"It's a secret ballot. Now, it's sort of like, that doesn't seem right to me. Something's wrong with this picture," said Lani Johnson, concerned voter.
The precinct's chairperson says shortly after polls opened, the e-SCAN machine started rejecting ballots, even crumpling one voter's ballot, instead of ingesting it….
There were different issues at Kahala Elementary -- the electronic ballot box tabulator was down for about 15 minutes.
At Hahaione Elementary -- hundreds of voters showed up within the first few hours of their doors opening, and say for the most part it was a quick process, but there were some hiccups.
"They've voted here before, but their names were not on the ballot, so they had to be processed on the listing -- a process that would validate them to vote. Mine was right there, and I'm a new voter," said Peggy Trout, voter.
And Kapunahala Elementary wasn't exempt from the election chaos, as voters were asked to place their ballots in ballot boxes after poll workers weren't able to locate the tabulating machine.
"We have had a few polling places where custodians at schools actually moved the machine and locked it in a different location where we couldn't locate it, but those were far and few between," said Nago….
SA: Elections chief pleased
KHON: Voter turnout average, not as high as years past
read … Incompetent Nago Bungles Election Again
Voters encounter long lines, problems on Election Day—Nago Blames Machines
KHON: At Kapunahala Elementary School in Kaneohe and Kawananakoa Middle School, poll workers couldn’t locate the machines needed for voting….
Machines at Kaiser High School had also been moved but were found in time….
Sixteen other sites experienced jams and were either repaired or replaced.
Voters reported ballot machines were down at Jefferson Elementary, Hahaione Elementary and Waipahu High School.
Ryan Kasten got to Jefferson Elementary before the polls opened, and as he waited to submit his ballot, noticed the machine was malfunctioning.
“A man came out and said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, our machine is broken. It’s not working. We don’t know how to fix it. The paper has jammed inside the machine,'” he told KHON2….
According to the state Office of Elections, procedure was not followed at Waianae High School, University Laboratory School, and Makaha in which the chairs started collecting ballots for later scanning from voters waiting in line who wanted to leave. They should have only been collecting them directly into the secure boxes….
Kamiloiki Elementary School in Hawaii Kai saw lines all day, partially because of high turnout, but also because there was only one electronic ballot station and one e-scan for the entire precinct….
At McKinley High School, issues included paper jams, missing power cords, and more.
“We had our machine issues,” said chief election officer Scott Nago….
read … Problems on Election Day
“I’ve Never Seen it so Bad’ – Nago Blames Voters
SA: …Long lines, a two-page ballot and the occasional malfunctioning voting machine caused frustration and delays for island voters on Election Day.
Despite setting a new record with 749,917 registered voters, only 55 percent of them actually voted.
In the 2012 general election by comparison, when President Barack Obama won re-election, 61.9 percent of the state’s 705,668 registered voters cast ballots. During Hawaii-born Obama’s first presidential election in 2008, 66 percent of Hawaii’s 691,356 registered voters cast ballots.
Still, on Tuesday night, when the polls were scheduled to close at 6 p.m., 125 polling places out of 233 across the islands still had voters in line.
Chief Election Officer Scott Nago said voters needed extra time to review all of the choices on the two-page ballot, which included 20 county charter amendments on Oahu.
“It’s double the length,” Nago said as elections officials scrambled to figure out which polls were still open. “If voters don’t study the ballot, it takes them longer to answer the questions.”
Hawaii polling places remained open for would-be voters in line by 6 p.m. All of the polls finally closed and the first election returns were released at 7:45 p.m.
Voters also faced occasionally problems with machines Tuesday, and some gave up in frustration and did not vote for president and Honolulu mayor.
Some voters at Kamiloiki Elementary in East Oahu and Holomua Elementary in Ewa reported waiting more than 40 minutes, while others waited more than an hour at Kainalu Elementary in Kailua.
Some voters bypassed casting their ballots behind the privacy of a screen and instead voted atop cafeteria tables. Volunteers also ran low on blue privacy folders in some precincts.
The electronic voting machine at Manoa Elementary School malfunctioned and was down from 7 to 11 a.m., adding to the wait for people casting paper ballots.
After making her choices at Waimalu Elementary School in Aiea, Jill Hoffmann then found herself at the back of a line that snaked around the packed school auditorium just to get her ballot scanned.
After 15 to 20 minutes, Hoffmann estimated it would take her another hour to drop off her ballot.
“It was a large cafeteria, and the line completely went out around all four walls,” Hoffmann said. “It was hot and there was no air conditioning. I couldn’t wait that long.”
So Hoffmann, 55, ended up not voting for the first time in 28 years.
“I vote every time except this one,” she said. “I’ve never seen it this bad.”
read … Blame the voters
Voters encounter long lines, problems at Hawaii polling places in spite of low turnout
HNN: "They are in turmoil," said Kapolei voter Rene Ortega, in a Facebook post. "The line is very long, waiting for over an hour, machine is full and they have been on the phone for over 15 minutes and still can't figure out what to do." …
There was also a spate of malfunctions at voting sites; 18 polling places statewide reported equipment snags, including problems with ballot scanning machines….
a voter who was at Kahala Elementary School told Hawaii News Now that dozens of people were in line to hand in their election ballots because of a possible broken machine. She said she was worried about the security of her ballot.
About 415,792 people turned out to vote in Hawaii, about 55.4 percent of the total number of registered voters. Although that's less than the 2012 election, officials say it was a healthy number.
During the last presidential election, when Obama sought re-election, nearly 62 percent of registered voters in Hawaii cast ballots….
Other sites with malfunctions were McKinley Community School for Adults, Jefferson Elementary School, Kapunahala Elementary School and Aiea High School.
Jesse Burgess, who voted at Jefferson Elementary, called his voting experience "disorganized."
"They didn't expect it," he said. "They didn't check the machine before everybody lined up and the confusion back and forth."
read … Problems at Polling Places
Ocean View woman says voters turned away
HTH: A would-be voter in Hawaiian Ocean View Estates said she and four others were denied ballots because they weren’t listed in the system.
Ray Henderson said she and the others had registered to vote online. She said she registered before the Oct. 10 deadline.
“I tried to vote — I wanted to vote,” Henderson said Tuesday.
Henderson said she and the others were not given provisional ballots, as required under the Help America Vote Act of 2002….
read … Turned Away
Maui Council Results Swung by “2500 Paper Ballots from Haiku”
MN: …With a number of tight races getting down to the wire, there remained nearly 3,000 votes to count in Maui County, as of shortly before 11 p.m., according to Deputy County Clerk Josiah Nishita.
The breakdown of those votes was: approximately 2,500 paper ballots from the Haiku Community Center; 300 late mail dropoffs; and 170 duplicated ballots, Nishita said.
The Maui County Clerk’s Office contacted candidates to inform them that there still were uncounted ballots, he said.
“We didn’t want anybody to think it’s done or called,” he said….
MN: After nearly 3,000 votes were counted late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, natural farm alchemist Alika Atay came from behind….
read … Swing Results
Honolulu Voters Say No To Longer Terms For Mayor, Council
CB: But most of the other charter amendments were passing handily, including more police oversight and money for the Honolulu Zoo….
read … Charter Amendments
Usual Suspects Buy Influence with Caldwell, Council
CB: Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell pulled in about $45,000 in the days leading up to Tuesday’s election.
That compares to about $36,000 for Charles Djou, the challenger.
Caldwell’s donors included RMY Construction executive Russell Yamamoto ($2,000), A&B Properties executive Alan Arakawa ($1,000), city administrator Chris Takashige ($1,350), attorney Sherry Broder ($1,000), Koa Capital Partners’ Christopher Eldridge ($1,000), attorney Blake Oshiro ($1,000), Koa Capital Partners’ Dustin Sellers ($2,000), CH2M Hill Companies PAC ($4,000), Hilton Worldwide Florida executive Mark Wang ($4,000) and DeBartolo Development Florida executive Edward Kobel ($2,500)….
CB: Kobayashi, Manahan and Menor all reported receiving tens of thousands of dollars more than their opponents in campaign donations.
read … Bought n Paid For
Rail: Transparency is no Substitute for Honesty and Integrity
Cataluna: … The Honolulu rail project, with its millions of pages of government documents and hundreds of public meetings, hasn’t suffered from a lack of transparency. It’s the lack of straight talk — honesty — about what this thing will really cost that has infuriated us.
Being honest is much harder than being transparent. Having integrity is hardest of all. Maybe today, with this horror of an election finished, we can stop accepting transparency as a watered-down substitute for truthfulness ….
read … Caldwell
Who did Hawaii's keiki vote for?
HNN: Hillary Clinton won over Donald Trump by a large margin.
In the Honolulu mayor's race, Charles Djou won over incumbent Kirk Caldwell 41,954 to 31,383.
Shirley Ostrov won over Colleen Hanabusa for the First Congressional District race.
read … Who did Hawaii's keiki vote for?
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