By TOM CALLIS
By TOM CALLIS
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Hawaii Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago will meet with the state’s county clerks today in Hilo for a post-election briefing that will cover slip ups with the Big Island’s primary last Saturday.
The meeting, which occurs after every election, was scheduled “months ago” and is not a result of late openings of some Hawaii County polling places that delayed voting results across the state, said Rex Quidilla, head of state Voters Services Section of the Office of Elections.
Still, the office will use the opportunity to get up to speed on what caused the late openings and exactly how many polling places were affected, he said.
“There’s a lot of things that go on during an election,” Quidilla said. “It’s unrealistic to expect we’ll have every bit of information received at that meeting, but that will be the start.”
The meeting is being held in Hilo because Nago planned to be here right after the election to conduct a “poll book audit,” which compares the number of voter signatures with counted ballots.
That is also done after each election, Quidilla said.
The office initially heard complaints that up to 11 of the county’s 40 polling places had opened late, but that still has not been verified.
“A lot of that information resides in the (Hawaii) County building,” Quidilla said.
County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi could not be reached Saturday and did not return requests for comment Monday.
While the specifics remain unclear, the state office believed as of Saturday that at least two of the late openings were caused by election workers arriving late with ballot boxes.
One other location, at Kahakai Elementary School, may not have opened on time because election workers could not locate their poll book, which contains the names of all registered voters in the precinct.
The meeting will be held in the state office building on Aupuni Street. A time had not been set as of early Monday afternoon.
The County Council will have its own meeting with Kawauchi to discuss the election at 10 a.m. on Aug. 20 in Hilo, said Council Chairman Dominic Yagong.
Yagong had requested approval from the state Attorney General’s Office to hold a meeting Thursday, but the office said it could not provide a waiver of the six-day notice requirement.
Yagong, who as chairman is also Kawauchi’s boss, said he wants to hold the meeting so the council can gather all the facts on what happened.
He declined to comment on the election day problems until then.
“The whole idea is to be able to have the county clerk come forward and give a report as to exactly what took place on polling places on the primary election,” Yagong said.
“Right now, the focus is on the general election and making sure … we don’t have the problems reoccurring in the general election,” he added.
Yagong said he didn’t have any more information on what polling places were impacted.
As a result of the late openings, Gov. Neil Abercrombie ordered Big Island polling places to remain open until 7:30 p.m. while others across the state closed at 6 p.m.
It’s unclear how many stayed open that late.
The extension delayed the first round of results until shortly after 8 p.m.
Abercrombie told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he will consider proposing returning election oversight to the lieutenant governor’s office as a result of the election day problems on the Big Island.
County clerks have had local jurisdiction over voting since 1995.
The last time polling hours had been extended was in 1996 on Oahu as a result of bad weather.
“We’ve never had a proclamation to extend polling hours because of widespread delays in opening polls,” Quidilla said.
Mayor Billy Kenoi said he shares concerns over the election process, but said it’s up to the County Council to address since it has oversight of the county clerk and elections offices.
“It’s up to them to be accountable and have an open and transparent conversation about what happened,” he said. “People need to know what happened and why.”
The late openings prompted the Republican Party of Hawaii and Hilo attorney Brian DeLima to file complaints.
The party said in a press release that it may file a “lawsuit or lawsuits” if it’s not satisfied with efforts to correct the problem.
Party Chairman David Chang did not return a call to his cell phone Monday seeking additional comment.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.