ZIP code error spurs new cards for 175 voters

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The Hawaii County Elections Division will send out new voter information cards to nearly 175 voters because of a ZIP code error, County Clerk Jamae Kawa­uchi said Thursday in a news release.

Voters who have not received their yellow card by today or who have questions should call the Elections Division at 961-8277 in Hilo or 323-4400 in Kona.

This comes on the heels of a terse reprimand of Kawa­uchi on Wednesday by state Chief Election Officer Scott Nago for failing to communicate with his office about an audit the county clerk conducted and the closing of the Hilo elections office Monday.

Nago wrote in a letter to Kawa­uchi that closing the office led to "significant speculation in the public about the integrity of our elections only a few weeks before the Aug. 11, 2012, Primary Election."

Kawauchi said Wednesday that the Hilo office was closed for the audit, which was necessary because of redistricting and reapportionment this year. Also, three small "pocket precincts" have no polling place and must vote absentee, she said.

The review was to "make sure our books were in order" and that election workers were verifying printed voter lists with the database registry.

She said the division started a review Friday evening and worked through the weekend. The review had not yet been completed, and there was "so far nothing to report," she said.

The news release said the yellow cards to about 175 voters were sent to the wrong ZIP code because a street and an avenue have the same name but different ZIP codes.

Nago said Thursday he is anxious to talk to Kawa­uchi to get a handle on the scope of the problems.

"Each county has sole responsibility for maintaining their own data," Nago said. "We have not received any kind of contact. We’re just trying to get to the bottom of this and work with her to provide secure, open and honest elections for the state of Hawaii."

Nago said Kawauchi emailed his office, asking for a meeting at the attorney general’s office Thursday, but when his office called there, no one knew about a meeting. He then emailed her to meet at his office but heard nothing from her by day’s end.

A total of 101,728 county voter cards were mailed July 16, according to the county. A total of 5,212 were returned due to an expired forwarding address or other reasons.

The next step is for absentee ballots to go out.

The goal is for absentee ballots to go out 20 days before the election, which would have been July 23, state officials said. But they had not gone out as of Thursday.

Kawauchi, a Hilo lawyer appointed by the County Council, took her position Dec. 6, 2010.

Kawauchi did not return calls Thursday.

Councilman Dennis Oni­shi of Hilo said in a phone interview the problems at the Elections Division have been mounting for months, and he wrote to Nago on Tuesday, insisting the state Office of Elections take control of the county operations, which is "in shambles," to ensure a fair, problem-free primary election.

The state does not have oversight over the county clerks, but rather works collaboratively with them, said Rex Qui­dilla, state Elections Office spokes­man.