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MEGAN MOSELEY/MMOSELEY@STARADVERTISER.COM
2014 October 21 CTY - Early voting in Pahoa, Hawaii at the Nanawale Estates Community Center on Tuesday. HSA PHOTO BY MEGAN MOSELEY
PAHOA, Hawaii >> Rhio Markley was the last person to vote Tuesday in the Puna District.
She arrived at the Nanawale Estates Community Center in Pahoa four minutes before closing time on her antique motorcycle, which gets 90 miles to the gallon.
Markley, who has been living in the Puna District for 30 years, became the 29th person to vote early in Puna ON Tuesday. That mades her one of 105,158 registered voters on Hawaii island, and the last voter to cast a ballot on the first day of early voting across the state.
Hawaii County decided to provide early walk-in voting to Puna in case Madame Pele decides to pick up the pace on the currently stalled June 27 lava flow.
Markley said she decided to vote early after driving by a sign for absentee voting on the side of the road. At the time, she was listening to a radio newscaster list off all the early voting sites on Hawaii island.
“Except they didn’t mention Puna,” she explained.
