Hawaii sets new low in voter turnout

Tuesday’s general election set a Hawaii record for voter apathy with a turnout of 52.3 percent.

The previous low was 52.7 percent in 2006, with the gubernatorial election in 2010 coming in at 55.8 percent. 

State elections chief Scott Nago said his office did what it could to generate turnout.

"We’ve done everything we can to make voting accessible," he said. "We’re just one part of the process — issues, candidates, that contribute to voter turnout. It’s just not our office alone that can drive the turnout."

On Hawaii island, meanwhile, beleaguered residents of the Puna district cast their votes without distractions from tropical storms and surging lava.

While two Puna polling places were closed during the Aug. 9 primary election in the destructive wake of Tropical Storm Iselle, both polls opened Tuesday with no reported problems.

Kate Cruse, 60, of Ainaloa arrived at the Pahoa Community Center in the afternoon to a relatively calm scene at the usually busy building that’s been used as a disaster relief information center for area residents preparing for the June 27 lava flow, which was last reported stalled 480 feet from Pahoa Village Road.

Cruse said she was happy she got to vote and that election officials prepared last month for the possibility that lava might pose a problem come Tuesday, "because the lava is so unpredictable."

Cruse would know better than anyone how Mother Nature might interrupt election plans.

"I wasn’t able to vote during the primary," she said. "I had two trees on my house, and I was just so caught up with everything from the storm."

Elsewhere, Hawaii election officials reported only a few problems with the state’s 232 polling places.

Troubleshooters were sent to polling places at Christ United Methodist Church on Keeaumoku Street and Wilson Elementary School on Kilauea Avenue in Kaimuki in the morning because of minor problems with the paper ballot-counting machines when they opened at 7 a.m., elections spokesman Rex Quidilla said.

Similar problems were reported midmorning with counting machines at Koko Head Elementary. Voters were not able to feed their ballots into the devices, and were told to put their ballots in the pocket beside the machine to be scanned when the machine could not be fixed.

Overall voter turnout across Oahu appeared to be slow — or about the same as it was for the primary election, many precincts reported.

At Waimanalo Elementary and Intermediate School, precinct chairwoman Grace Kalei-kilo said voting all day was steady and about the same as usual, although it appeared to pick up as the afternoon wore on.

Meanwhile, at Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, the stream of voters was "slower than usual," said Virginia Maimon, precinct chairwoman. "It’s been a steady flow but not a heavy flow."

Political analysts had predicted a disappointing turnout for the November elections as the early and absentee voter turnout was down from previous years. On Oahu just 14,558 voters cast early ballots, down from about 22,000 in 2010.

"Turnout was low and that was not a good thing," former Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona told his supporters during his concession speech after losing the gubernatorial race. Aiona added that everyone should be voting because Americans have died in defense of the right to vote.

On Maui, however, officials said the turnout may have been higher than normal because of a hotly contested initiative calling for a temporary ban on the cultivation of genetically engineered crops.

While there were a few instances of initiative supporters reportedly waving signs too close to polling places, no major voting problems occurred on the Valley Isle.

In Pahoa, voters who normally vote at Pahoa Community Center and who live north of the lava flow had the option of voting at Hawaiian Paradise Park.

There were 3,378 people registered to vote at the community center, Quidilla said.

Frances Liwai, 62, lives in Hawaiian Beaches and voted at Keonepoko Elementary School, a school in the line of Pele’s path that recently relocated students in preparation for the flow.

Liwai said today she was thankful to have made it to the polls Tuesday.

"We’re very fortunate that lava hasn’t come yet. We’re all having to wait and see," she said.

Gerald Ragsdale Jr., an election official at Keonepoko Elementary, said turnout was "pretty good."

He worked the primary and said the turnout then was slower due to the storm, when people showed up and "were just happy to be alive."

Elizabeth Weatherford, an election official who has been working the polls since 2004, admitted that her mind was wandering Tuesday. Just the day before, she said, she and her husband had moved some of their belongings in preparation for the lava flow.

"We packed this weekend and yesterday unloaded," she said. "My mind is kind of elsewhere."

Jonathan Lott, precinct chairman at the Ala Wai Community Park polling station in Waikiki, said turnout was similar to previous years with the voting process unfolding smoothly throughout the day with only a few minor hiccups.

Lott said despite the ease of mail-in voting, people still walk in to vote out of habit and because they get an opportunity to check out the voting process. Some also like it because they’re concerned about fraud with absentee ballots, he said.

"A lot of people like the idea of being here in person," Lott said.

Waikiki resident Bo Gapas used his trip to the poll as an opportunity to get his 

1-month-old son out of the house. He walked out of the Ala Wai polling place carrying his son Alexander Silveraa-Gapas in his arms.

"It feels great to have this ability (to vote)," said Gapas, 37, a CPR instructor, who felt the constitutional amendment to provide state funds to private schools was the most important issue on the ballot.

Gapas, who has a bachelor’s in early childhood education, wants to send his son to private school but hopes public school students also have access to an excellent education.

"The kids that really need the help should get it," he said. "Let’s distribute the wealth. That’s the future we’re shaping."

At Manoa Elementary School it was a family affair for Ben and Patricia Ancheta, who for the second time brought their three sons — Benjamin, Adam and William — to accompany them behind the red, white and blue voting curtain.

"It’s really important to show them that everyone should exercise their right to vote," said the elder Ben Ancheta. "We also want to show them it’s also a fun time."

Patricia Ancheta said, "It’s a family tradition."

Ben Ancheta said the family discussed the candidates and the issues at the dinner table, then went to breakfast together and then voted.

One of the first people in a line of more than a dozen voters who showed up at Manoa about 30 minutes before voting was allowed was Yoshito Asato, 85. "I walk for half an hour every morning," Asato said, "and I like getting it done early and forgetting about it."

About 50 people were waiting in line at Kamiloiki Elementary School in Hawaii Kai when the polling place opened just after 7 a.m. A worker announced that the polling station was short-staffed and asked for volunteers to work inside. But the line outside the door was reduced to just a few people by 7:30 a.m.

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Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporters Megan Moseley, Gregg Kakesako, Rob Shikina and Leila Fujimori contributed to this report.