Tribune-Herald staff writers
By JOHN BURNETT
and TOM CALLIS
Tribune-Herald staff writers
The Hawaii Police Department is investigating allegations of voter fraud involving the 2010 elections.
In a written statement released late Tuesday afternoon, the department said the investigation was launched based on information provided by the county’s Office of Elections.
Asked what specifically police are investigating, Capt. Mitch Kanehailua, commander of the Criminal Investigation Division, said: “We don’t know yet. It’s just an allegation coming from the office. We’ve got a bunch of stuff we’ve got to go through.”
“You know, we’ve never done an investigation like this before,” he added.
Kanehailua said that police received the investigation at about 2 p.m. on Tuesday. “So we’re just starting the preliminary phase, filling out the reports and stuff like that.”
Asked if the investigation had been requested by County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi, whose tasks including overseeing the county’s elections office, Kanehailua said he couldn’t comment.
Kanehailua said he hopes the investigation will be completed in “a month or so.”
“I’m hoping we can get it done as quickly as we can do it,” he said.
Kanehailua said the investigation has “nothing to do with the current elections.” Numerous polling places opened late during last month’s primary elections, some by as much as an hour-and-a-half late. The late openings caused Gov. Neil Abercrombie to order that all Big Island polling places remain open until 8:30 p.m., 90 minutes beyond their scheduled closing time.
Kawauchi said in July that she had uncovered evidence of double voting by four or five county residents in 2010. Approximately 53 voters also appeared to have been listed on voter registration rolls twice. Those duplicates have since been eliminated, she has said.
Kawauchi, who declined to comment in an email sent to the Tribune-Herald late Tuesday afternoon, submitted the information to the state Office of Elections and Attorney General’s office. Neither office could not be reached for comment.
Voter fraud is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment.
The Tribune-Herald has requested the names of county residents who voted twice, but Kawauchi has denied that request, citing an ongoing state investigation.
Kanehailua said that police were called to the County Clerk’s office on Monday to investigate a report of unauthorized computer access in the second-degree, but could not provide any specific details, including if the computer that was allegedly illegally accessed was an elections computer.
Kanehailua said the South Hilo Patrol Division is handling the preliminary computer investigation, but that the probe will eventually be forwarded to Criminal Investigations Section detectives, as the alleged offense is also a Class C felony.
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com and Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.