Puna precincts should vote Friday

The state Office of Elections ultimately made the right call by scheduling this Friday’s vote in two Puna precincts where, unfortunately, polling stations were shut down on Primary Election Day due to storm damage caused by Tropical Storm Iselle.

That postponed vote should go ahead, despite a candidate-driven court challenge that argues for more time before balloting happens in Puna.

The storm, which damaged or destroyed homes and obstructed roadways on Hawaii island, also upheaved last Saturday’s election, leaving election officials with no perfect remedy. A key race hangs in the balance — the primary contest for U.S. Senate between Brian Schatz, who currently holds the office by appointment, and Colleen Hanabusa, who left her U.S. House seat to challenge him.

On Wednesday, Hanabusa, who trails Schatz by 1,635 votes, filed a complaint in Hawaii County court seeking a delay in the vote.

The people in Precincts 1 and 2 of state House District 4 do deserve their opportunity to vote. Arguably, they did have the same early-voting opportunity extended statewide, one that the governor and other officials urged voters to take as Iselle approached, with Hurricane Julio expected to compound the damage afterward. Under those circumstances, the less-than-ideal decision to postpone the voting for the two precincts seemed a rational choice.

But now elections officials are correct in weighing the merits of further delay and concluding that bringing finality to the race within the week, with a polling station opening at Keonepoko Elementary School during the Admission Day state holiday, is a better outcome.

It’s not clear why delaying the vote would yield better results.

Hanabusa alleges in her lawsuit that because of limited electricity and phone service, it will be impossible to ensure that all voters will be notified.

In contrast, Hawaii County officials, including Mayor Billy Kenoi, have said major access roads are now passable and have pledged the county’s help with shuttling residents to the polls, at least partially overcoming that obstacle.

Such aid for voter access recalls the September 1992 primary election, which kept to its schedule a mere eight days after Hurricane Iniki struck and caused more than $1 billion in damage. Pointedly, the voting included some polling sites on Kauai set up in National Guard tents because the normal facilities were unavailable or inaccessible.

At the very least, Puna’s current one-day plan gives the elections office better control over the integrity of the vote than its initial notion of mail-in voting. That would have presented its own challenges in ballot distribution to severely damaged homes that may have been abandoned.

Opening a single polling station also makes it easier for precinct officials to clear only those voters who are eligible and haven’t yet cast a ballot. This should be achievable in a district with typical voter turnout that falls below even the state’s dismal overall record.

Simply doing the numbers suggests that Hanabusa faces a daunting task in whittling away Schatz’ lead. The past two elections are not precisely comparable, but the 2012 turnout of 1,347 at Hawaiian Paradise Community Center (24.2 percent) and 1,184 at Keonepoko (22.6 percent) provides at least a benchmark for what to expect, even with the higher profile of a neck-and-neck Senate race.

However, the basis for any legal challenge of an election is not what happens to the candidates but whether voters get a fair shake. It appears that Hawaii County and the Office of Elections are prepared to do right by the Puna community. They should be allowed to proceed with that task.