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Honolulu Clerk has been Purposefully Keeping Voting Lines Long: 2020, 2022, 2024
CB: … 2020, Hawaii’s first go-round with mail voting, allowed officials to take stock of the types of services voters need and the “demands that will be placed upon us,” Takahashi said.
Four years later, Oahu saw a virtual repeat of what happened in 2020. Long lines. Delayed results. And tired voters.
The preparations county elections officials took to alleviate the long lines – like enhanced media campaigns and additional voting booths – did little to stem the flood of 8,000 voters that descended on the only two polling sites on Oahu on Tuesday.
The clerk’s office did not ask for a major increase in resources or funding ahead of the 2024 election, a Civil Beat review of publicly available budget materials and interviews with council members shows.
Most notably, there was no push to add additional voter centers.
Although Takahashi had said the city opened only two voting centers on Election Day due to a lack of resources, he told Civil Beat on Thursday: “We’re amply funded.”
But experts on voting systems similar to Hawaii’s, voting rights advocates and a growing chorus of lawmakers say Oahu needs to have more than two voting centers open on the day of an election.
“I don’t like giving advice to other states, but just on the surface, having two locations on an island with a million people on it might be something they want to reconsider,” said Phil Keisling, a former secretary of state for Oregon who oversaw the state’s switch to mail balloting.
Other mail-voting states require county elections officials to scale the number of voting centers according to the population of each county.
In the last three years, both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate have put forward proposals to increase the number of voting centers depending on the population of each island.
All of the proposals died without ever getting a hearing….
Other mail-voting states have one voter center for every 30,000 to 70,000 active voters, according to an analysis from the National Vote at Home Institute, a group that offers policy recommendations on elections.
Based on Tuesday’s turnout, a similar ratio would require Oahu to have somewhere between four to 10 centers open on Election Day.
Denver, which has a population of just under 2.7 million with 471,000 active voters – has 30 voter centers, one for every 15,000 voters.
Oahu, with a population close to a million and voter turnout over 320,000, has just two….
Two years ago, Common Cause Hawaii recommended 15 additional voting centers.
On Oahu, they would be located in Waianae, Nanakuli, Ewa Beach, Pearl City, Laie and Waimanalo. On Maui, in Lahaina, Kihei and Makawao.
On Kauai, the organization called for a voter service center in Poipu and another in Anahola. And on the Big Island, Common Cause wanted to see centers in Pahoa, Waimea, Volcano and Honokaa….
PRECISELY AS EXPLAINED: Long Lines Suppress Republican Votes on Election Day: City Clerk Plans to do it Again in 2024
read … Years Of Shortchanging Elections Led To Honolulu's Long Voter Lines - Honolulu Civil Beat
100 voters still in line at 11:30PM
SA: … After 11:30 p.m., Nago said the printout remained stalled because about 100 people were still in line to vote at Kapolei Hale.
That first release of results finally came at 12:07 a.m. Wednesday, hours later than what is normal. Under state law, those in line at the 7 p.m. closing time must be allowed to vote….
Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii Public Policy Center, observed that preferences of local voters should be respected.
“If a sizable portion of the public still wants to cast their ballots in person on Election Day, then the counties need to accommodate that,” he said.
Correct. … adding more Election Day capacity statewide would further the state’s effort to boost participation in democracy….
PRECISELY AS EXPLAINED: Long Lines Suppress Republican Votes on Election Day: City Clerk Plans to do it Again in 2024
read … Editorial: More capacity for in-person voting | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Final Hawaii ballots trigger only one Recount: State House Dist 39
SA: … The latest tally of the last 18,000 votes cast Tuesday on Election Day flipped the results of a contentious West Oahu seat and now has incumbent Republican Rep. Elijah Pierick winning instead of losing, but that could change again depending on a recount of the nearly 10,000 votes.
Pierick (Royal Kunia-Waipahu-Honouliuli) originally was losing to Campbell High School teacher Corey Rosenlee by 71 votes in their second consecutive showdown, according to results released Wednesday morning.
But after counting the outstanding votes by Wednesday night, the results flipped to give Pierick a razor-thin victory over Rosenlee of just 20 votes. As of Wednesday night Pierick had 4,706 votes to Rosenlee’s 4,686.
A recount of the House 39 votes continued into Thursday night.
It was the only race that changed based on the final ballots, according to state Elections Chief Scott Nago.
By law a recount can be triggered only if the difference of votes is less than 100, or less than one-quarter of 1%, whichever is smaller.
Nago said the slim lead could still change following a mandatory recount, which requires the tedious task of going through each of the 320,999 ballots sent in by mail or dropped off in bins from all islands to find the nearly 10,000 ones specifically cast in House 39.
“Nothing else flipped and no other recounts were triggered,” Nago said.
The final overall ballot tabulations confirmed Republican hopes of adding three more Republicans to the House and a third to the Senate — all representing Oahu districts and most of them on the West side of Oahu, which continues to add Republican seats.
In the past legislative session with Pierick, Republicans had a minority caucus of six members in the 51-member House.
After the final ballots were counted, now they will have at least eight and possibly nine, depending on what happens with the House 39 recount.
The incoming Republican freshmen are Garner Musashi Shimizu to represent District 32, Moanalua-Aliamanu-Foster Village; Julie Reyes Oda for District 40, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point; and Chris Muraoka, District 45, Waianae-Makaha.
In the 25-member Senate, there were only two Republicans for the past two legislative sessions, and Sens. Brenton Awa (R, Kaneohe-Laie-Mokuleia) and Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Ocean Pointe-Iroquois Point) could not agree between them who should be minority leader.
With the election of Republican Sen. Samantha Decourt to represent Nanakuli- Waianae-Makaha, the addition of a third Republican enabled them to break the impasse.
Awa will now become minority leader, Decourt will serve as minority floor leader and Fevella will become assistant floor leader, Awa told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
read … Final Hawaii ballots trigger state House recount | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Recount: Cure Your Ballot
CB: … it was still not clear as of Thursday whether all of the ballots had actually been counted. That’s made some candidates and their supporters very anxious, as at least one House race seems headed to a mandatory recount.
There still could be other recounts, too, given how close several other races appear. And even if we do get full election results by the time you read this edition of The Sunshine Blog, the final vote could change yet again next week.
That’s because final election results won’t be released until between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Wednesday. That report is expected to include voted ballots that required additional verification by the County Elections Division — specifically, issues with signatures on return ballots resolved through what’s known as curing.
Curing entails notifying voters that there is a problem with a signature, like it’s missing or it doesn’t match what’s on file. Two-thirds of states including Hawaii require election officials to notify voters about discrepancies and give them a chance to fix it.
In fact, at least one candidate in a very close race has messaged supporters asking them to go online and check to make sure their ballot was accepted. If it wasn’t, the candidate says, get ahold of the elections office and have your ballot “cured.”
Voters have until 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to contact election officials to cure any signature issues. ….
read … The Sunshine Blog: Campaigning For A Candidate In A Senate Office Is A No-No
Gov. Green gives state workers bonus paid time off
SA: … For the third time in three years, Gov. Josh Green is giving state employees extra paid time off work during the holiday season.
The governor is providing two vacation days for tens of thousands of workers to use between Nov. 27 and Jan. 10, while many will be able to forego work on the day after Thanksgiving as well as either the day before Christmas or New Year’s Eve….
read … Gov. Green gives state workers bonus paid time off | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Honolulu Police Shooting Lawsuit Heads To Court After Settlement Stalls
CB: … The City Council declined to vote on a $1.5 million settlement in the lawsuit over the killing of Lindani Myeni amid strong opposition from law enforcement officials….
read … Honolulu Police Shooting Lawsuit Heads To Court After Settlement Stalls
Morgue contractor suing Maui police for alleged unpaid bills after Lahaina fire
HNN: … the owner of Grey Tech LLC is now suing MPD over claims the company’s owed more than a quarter million dollars for services provided following the Lahaina disaster. This comes after MPD said it opened an investigation into the contractor.
Grey Tech owner Greyson Abarra is now represented by high-profile attorney Michael Green.
Up until now, Green had chosen to stay out lawsuits involving the Lahaina fire. But he said for this case, he decided to make an exception.
In the hours after fire leveled Lahaina town, MPD called his company into action.
He says a deputy chief — who is second in command of the department — gave him a verbal OK to bring in additional manpower to assist his 14-person team with the recovery and transport of human remains.
Now, Abarra says the department is refusing to pay for all the work it asked his company to perform.
He says MPD told him, “Any volunteers — which we had a lot of: our retired fire department personnel, captains, hazmat captains, drivers, come forward to assist. They’re ineligible for reimbursement.” ….
Abarra says while the 32 volunteers donated their time, the department is refusing to pay for the services they helped his company provide — as well as expenses that were incurred for things like hotel rooms and food.
“Everything that was supposed to be federally covered,” Abarra explained.
He says MPD never amended his contract despite records showing he repeatedly asked them to.
In February, Abarra sent an email to MPD leadership stating, “I need to have something in writing as services outside my current contract are still being requested and provided.”…
“The County of Maui Department of Finance, on behalf of the Maui Police Department, paid Grey Tech LLC approximately $135,224.03 for work performed under contract for fiscal year 2024 and related to the related to the 2023 fires, i.e., body transport.”
The letter went on to say, “The county is confident Grey Tech has been paid in full,” adding Abarra has not established he’s entitled to an additional $150,000 in FEMA related funding….
We asked Maui Police Chief John Pelletier to discuss the issue in an on-camera interview. Instead, MPD spokesperson Alana Pico told us, “In June 2024, the Maui Police Department launched a criminal misconduct investigation (into Abarra’s company) regarding fraudulent billing.” ….
In the days following the disaster, Abarra says he went to MPD leadership with concerns that protocols for the respectful and accurate recovery of victims were not being followed. Statements recently made by MPD now confirm Abarra’s claims.
Green says he hopes to have the lawsuit filed in the next couple of weeks, saying “he plans to name everyone who’s responsible.”
Here is the full statement MPD sent to HNN Investigates on the criminal misconduct investigation: Mpd Email Statement
read … Morgue contractor suing Maui police for alleged unpaid bills after Lahaina fire
Overturn unsuccessful on Honolulu mayor’s to veto fireworks bill
KITV: … Council members couldn't gain two-thirds of the supporting vote to reverse the mayor’s decision against Bill 22 which would have relaxed regulations on ground fireworks….
Tad Trout, partner TNT Fireworks who supports the bill, said, "Take a look at the last five or six years, they reflect a substantial increase. Prohibition is not working and it’s time to make a change. That change needs to start today."
Oahu is the only county that prohibits using consumer fireworks—that includes sparklers, fountains and aerials….
SA: Honolulu City Council opts not to override mayor’s veto of fireworks bill | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Overturn unsuccessful on Honolulu mayor’s to veto fireworks bill | News | kitv.com
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen asks state land board to hold off on water permit conversation, again
MN: … last week the topic was added as an agenda item for the BLNR’s meeting at 9 a.m. Friday, which came as a surprise to the local administration.
In a Nov. 7 letter to BLNR, Bissen wrote, “Yesterday, the first director of the newly created East Maui Water Authority (EMWA) was sworn in before a standing room only crowd at a ceremony held in the mayor’s conference room in Wailuku, Maui. Sixty-four percent of Maui’s voters requested the EMWA be formed so that Maui’s residents would finally have a seat at the table, and a voice in the decision of how our East Maui watershed is cared for and its water equitably distributed.”
Expressing the administration’s mindfulness of the island’s history of taro farmers and agriculture, he described the decision to revisit the agenda item that recommends holding a contested hearing over the disposition of the East Maui Water License as puzzling and “extremely disappointing.” The testimony also states the administration was not informed the item was going to be added back on the agenda.
He wrote: “Your decision to reschedule this item so quickly jeopardizes our efforts to negotiate a communitywide solution.” …
read … Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen asks state land board to hold off on water permit conversation, again
Soft on Crime: Big Isle man accused of stealing ATV from Kea‘au High School in August now charged with theft of trailer from Pāhoa school
BIN: … A Big Island man who was out on supervised release after being arrested and charged in August for allegedly stealing an all-terrain vehicle from a Kea‘au school is back in custody, now accused of making off with a trailer reported stolen Oct. 2 from the Hawaiʻi Academy of Arts and Science Public Charter School campus in Pāhoa.
He also faces several drug and firearms charges in connection with the new theft case….
read … Big Isle man accused of stealing ATV from Kea‘au High School in August now charged with theft of trailer from Pāhoa school : Big Island Now
Hawai‘i Self-Defense Law
HPR: … Hawai‘i does not have a so-called stand-your-ground law but we do have laws allowing self-protection. Do they go far enough? ….
read … PBS Hawai‘i
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