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Over 400 volunteers across Hawaiʻi continue processing ballots into Election Day

Completed ballots are stored in boxes at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022.
Sophia McCullough
/
HPR
Completed ballots are stored in boxes at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022.

Tuesday is Election Day and voters are turning out across the state to get their ballots in by 7 p.m.

Wahiawā resident Laura Nakasone has volunteered as an election ballot counter for more than 20 years, having started at the request of her friend.

"Being that I was a teacher at the time, we got Election Day off from school, so it was like, 'OK, I'm not doing anything except voting, so, yeah (I'll volunteer)," she said Monday afternoon.

She, along with a room full of volunteers at the State Capitol in Honolulu, was processing ballots for this year's midterm election, where voters across the state are weighing federal, state and local seats.

Laura Nakasone processes ballots for the 2022 midterm elections at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022.
Sophia McCullough
/
HPR
Laura Nakasone processes ballots for the 2022 midterm elections at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022.

"We are now pulling the ballots out of the mail-in envelopes, and when we're done doing that, then we'll remove the ballot from the privacy sleeves, and then straighten the ballots out," she explained. "Then they'll be put into the boxes to be taken down to the scanning."

Nakasone and more than 400 volunteers across the state help process election ballots.

Once a voter mails in their ballot packet, those envelopes are opened. All identifying information is removed before ballots are scanned, just like Nakasone said.

Scanning is not the same as counting, which is only done on election night, once polls have closed.

Hawaiʻi County Clerk Jon Henricks said this process should be the same in counting centers across the islands.

"But I would imagine and hope that there are very little differences," Henricks said Monday.

At the end of each day, ballot packs are collected.

"They're transported by election officials to a central point, where we would then take those voted ballot packets because they're still obviously in their envelopes and then verify the signatures and then sort and scan them to be transported to the counting center for counting," Henricks said.

The state has received more than 285,000 ballots as of Monday morning.

About 14,000 of those are from Kauaʻi, according to Lyndon Yoshioka, the county’s election administrator. There, volunteers processed ballots at the Kauaʻi Community College. A Voter Service Center in the basement of the Historic County Annex Building offers same-day registration and in-person voting.

Ballots collected in the City and County of Honolulu are processed at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022.
Sophia McCullough
/
HPR
Ballots collected in the City and County of Honolulu are processed at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022.

Maui Deputy County Clerk James Krueger said the county’s on track to have a larger turnout than this past primary.

The Wailuku Voter Center has made improvements to get voters in and out even quicker to avoid the long lines that were seen in August.

"We've expanded the number of places (and machines) where people can vote in the center, so that should help, too," Krueger said Monday.

On Maui, they mailed out about 99,000 ballots and have received back about 28,000.

"I think we are on track to have a better turnout than we did in the primary for 2022," Krueger said Monday. "We're hoping for more people to show up and turn in ballots today and tomorrow."

The state switched to a mail-in election system two years ago.

Scott Nago, the chief election officer, stands inside the Hawaiʻi State Capitol one day before Election Day. (Nov. 7, 2022)
Sophia McCullough
/
HPR
Scott Nago, the chief election officer, stands inside the Hawaiʻi State Capitol one day before Election Day. (Nov. 7, 2022)

"In 2020, you had COVID, you had a lot of people who were unemployed," Scott Nago, the state's election chief, said. He noted that because the last big election was presidential, people may have factored that into why they voted in the first place.

"There’s a lot of different circumstances in each election, each election is unique by itself," Nago said.

But if you haven’t dropped off your ballot yet, officials recommend not mailing it, as it likely won't be eligible for counting.

"If the clerks don't have custody of the ballot by 7 p.m., it will not be validated and counted," Nago said.

To ensure your ballot is counted, officials recommend dropping it off at a ballot drop box, or at a voter service center.

"If you still have your ballot and want to vote, you can go in person, or you can take your ballot, your voted ballot to place a deposit," Nago said.

Chief Election Officer Scott Nago
The Conversation - Nov. 7, 2022

More information can be found at elections.hawaii.gov.

Sabrina Bodon was Hawaiʻi Public Radio's government reporter.
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