It’s Election Day! For those still mulling over their candidate choices, today is the last day to get your ballot to the polls.
It’s probably too late to mail it, as ballots must be received by your county election office by 7 p.m. today. But there are still several choices for procrastinators.
There are nine ballot drop-off boxes on Hawaii Island. Known as Known as “places of deposit,” they’re located at the county building in Hilo, the West Hawaii Civic Center, the Naalehu police station, Pahoa police station, Rodney Yano Hall in Captain Cook, Laupahoehoe Police Station, North Kohala Police Station, Waikoloa Community Association and Waimea police station. The boxes are locked at 7 p.m.
Voter service centers are set up at Aupuni Center in Hilo and the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona for those wanting to vote in person or would rather drop their completed ballots off there. The centers close and voting stops after the last person in line at 7 p.m. votes.
For voters with disabilities, voter service centers are equipped with accessible ballot marking devices for voters to vote their ballot privately and independently.
The voting equipment features adaptive controllers, accessible tactile devices, and non-visual access.
Voters requiring assistance may also bring a family member or friend to assist them. For more information about accessible voting options, visit elections.hawaii.gov or call (808) 453-VOTE (8683).
Some voting centers on the mainland have been reporting harassment or intimidation of votes, or that groups are monitoring drop-off sites and making voters uncomfortable. But state and county election officials said Monday they haven’t heard of any incidents here.
“I am unaware of any incidents of voter intimidation or that our ballot drop boxes are being monitored by anyone for any reason,” said Hawaii County Clerk Jon Henricks. “No such incidents or occurrences have been reported to our office.”
As would be expected in a midterm election, voter participation hasn’t yet been as high as during a presidential contest year.
“As of the end of the day on Saturday, November 5, we have had 827 voters cast their ballot at either the Hilo or Kona Voter Service Center and 8,832 voted ballot packets deposited at our nine ballot drop boxes,” Henricks said.
The remainder of the 45,817 ballots received as of press-time Monday were mailed back. In all, 112,417 ballots were issued, for a 40.7% participation rate so far.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.