The state Office of Elections will take control of the November general election in Hawaii County, an unprecedented move that reflects a lack of confidence in Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi.
State election officials will oversee polling places, the control center and the counting center, while Kawauchi and the county will retain responsibility for voter registration and absentee voting.
Scott Nago, the state’s chief election officer, said Tuesday that he made the decision after concluding that Kawauchi has not prepared an adequate plan to prevent a repeat of the mistakes that occurred in Hawaii County during the Aug. 11 primary. More than a dozen precincts in Hawaii County opened late for the primary, prompting Gov. Neil Abercrombie to issue an emergency proclamation that extended voting hours.
"This has never been done before. But this is something we decided, based on what we’ve seen — this gives us the best opportunity to conduct a successful general election," Nago told reporters at Office of Elections headquarters in Pearl City.
Kawauchi, who has said the primary was "a disaster" and has apologized for her mistakes, maintains that her office has made improvements in preparation for the general election. She did not return telephone calls Tuesday seeking comment, but has asked for a meeting with Nago and state attorneys later this week.
Hawaii County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, who supervises Kawauchi, said he was surprised by the state’s intervention. He said the clerk and county election staff have made a "herculean effort" in areas such as communications and training and have set the foundation for November.
"It still comes down to one thing, and that is that Hawaii County is able to move forward with the secure and fair elections come November, because the main thing is to make sure that every vote counts and everyone feels confident in the process that took place," Yagong said.
Nago said he was not satisfied that Kawauchi had addressed three areas that caused problems in the primary: operating the control center, packing election materials into precinct cans, and programming cellphones issued to precinct workers so they can communicate with election officials.
"The common theme throughout those debriefs was, ‘This is not how it was done ever before,’" he said.
Hawaii County Councilman Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, the lone voice on the Council publicly critical of Kawauchi’s performance, called Nago’s decision "great news." He said he would withdraw a resolution that was expected to be heard by the Council today urging Kawauchi to hire an experienced election administrator.
"You have someone who was not experienced," Onishi said of Kawauchi, who conducted her first election in the primary. "And she never went to go seek help."
Yagong said the Council will consider a resolution supporting an investigation into the primary that has been requested by the League of Women Voters of Hawaii. The state Elections Commission has opted not to launch an investigation, but Yagong said other agencies, such as the state attorney general’s office, could conduct a probe.
"I think it’s important that someone in authority does look at some of these incidents," he said, alluding to questions about whether some of the mistakes may have been committed intentionally to undermine Kawauchi over internal staff disputes.
Nago and the Elections Commission have been frustrated by Kawauchi’s response to the primary but are constrained by state law from ordering the clerk to take any action. The chief election officer supervises all state elections, while county clerks, who report to County Councils, have control over county elections, voter registration and absentee ballots.
On Oahu, where the Office of Elections is based, the state oversees election day operations while the county has responsibility for voter registration and absentee ballots. The state has long delegated election day responsibilities to county clerks on the neighbor islands. So while Nago does not have the authority to tell Kawauchi what to do, he can rescind the delegation of election day activities to Hawaii County.
"We don’t have a hammer to enforce her, to make sure she does her job," Nago said. "The only thing we could do is take back our delegation, which is what we did."
Nago has assigned Lori Tomczyk, who leads the state’s ballot operations section and was a monitor in Hawaii County during the primary, as the state’s lead administrator in Hilo in November. He said the state will also hire temporary staff and has located space for a control center and counting center at the Hilo State Building.
State Sen. Josh Green (D, Milolii-Waimea), who had asked the Governor’s Office to extend voting hours in the primary after learning of delays at West Hawaii precincts, said he has heard concerns from voters about a potential repeat of the problems in November.
"The only thing that’s important to me is that we have an election where everybody’s vote gets counted," he said.
