No need to declare a party to vote in primary election

Question: I just got my absentee ballot for the primary election. There was a note that said I must choose a political party to which I belong, and once I choose a party, I cannot vote for any candidate outside that party or my vote will be voided. When was this ridiculous law passed?

Answer: Hawaii has had an open primary since 1978, when voters approved a constitutional amendment that did away with the old system: a closed primary in which only voters registered with a political party could vote for that party’s candidates.

The closed primary was in effect between 1968 and 1978.

Under Hawaii’s open primary system, voters don’t have to declare belonging to a specific party, but they can vote only for candidates in a single party or only for nonpartisan candidates in what’s called a "single party primary."

If you reread the note, it does not say you have to belong to any political party to choose a ballot.

Article II of the state Constitution says "no person shall be required to declare a party preference or nonpartisanship as a condition of voting in any primary or special primary election," adding, "Secrecy of voting and choice of political party affiliation or nonpartisanship shall be preserved."

What you seem to be advocating is a "blanket primary election," in which voters can pick candidates from multiple political parties. California had a blanket primary that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2000.

The Democratic Party of Hawaii has been trying to do away with Hawaii’s open primary, arguing that it’s a violation of the First Amendment right to free association. It maintains Hawaii’s primary is basically the same as a blanket primary because it allows any voter to choose a party’s candidates regardless of party affiliation and without having to reveal their names.

It wants to restrict primaries to voters who publicly choose to affiliate with a political party prior to an election. However, in November U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright ruled against the party. The party is appealing the ruling to the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco.

Question: How can I get an absentee ballot?

Answer: You have to fill out an absentee ballot application, then mail the completed form to the city clerk.

Application forms can be found at all satellite city halls, U.S. post offices and public libraries.

Applications must be received no later than seven days prior to the election. The primary is Aug. 9, and the general election is Nov. 4.

For more information, call the Honolulu elections office at 768-3800.

Hawaii has a "no excuses" absentee voting law, meaning any registered voter may vote as an absentee for any reason.

Question: What happened to the Honolulu Airport cellphone waiting lots, which were very convenient? I found the large lot near the Delta Airlines hangar on Aolele Street chained shut, and the previous spaces along the Nimitz Highway access road had disappeared.

Answer: There are still two cellphone waiting lots, including the one along Nimitz Highway, between Aolele Street and Rodgers Boulevard.

However, the state Department of Transportation announced in June that it was relocating the Aolele Street waiting lot a quarter-mile Diamond Head, between Aolewa Street and Lagoon Drive, to accommodate construction of a new airport access gate.

In both lots the driver must stay inside the vehicle while waiting for a call from the passenger to be picked up. Unattended vehicles will be cited and towed. The maximum waiting period is 60 minutes.

For a map of the lots, go to hawaii.gov/hnl/airport-parking/cell-phone-waiting-lots.

Mahalo

To the lovely Lopes family who stopped to help us change our flat tire on Tantalus on a Sunday afternoon in June. The grandson did all the work with such a giving demeanor. It really filled our afternoon with gratitude.

— Ed and Carolyn

Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.