Ex-Big Isle candidate charged in voter fraud

A Hawaii island grand jury has indicted a former County Council candidate on a charge of voter fraud, the county prosecutor’s office said Wednesday.

Tiffany Edwards Hunt, who unsuccessfully ran for office in 2014, when the allegations first surfaced, was indicted on a charge she voted in a district in which she did not reside during the primary and general elections in 2012, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Hunt, 39, is a former legislative aide to Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole and once worked as a staff reporter with West Hawaii Today.

In November 2014, a group of Hawaii island people held a news conference calling into question Hunt’s residency because she claimed a homeowner tax exemption in Hilo and voted in 2010 and 2012 in District 5 in Puna.

Hawaii County Clerk Stuart Maeda dismissed the complaint, saying it was filed after the June 10 deadline. He said the county tax office is responsible for reviewing a homeowner’s tax exemption.

HUNT’S attorney, Brian De Lima, said Wednesday that Hunt was registered as a voter in the place where she resided and planned to plead not guilty to the charge.

He criticized the prosecutor’s office for providing a “one-sided presentation” to the grand jury.

De Lima said Hunt had offered to testify before the grand jury and present photographic proof of her residency in Puna in 2012. Prior to 2013, Hunt resided with her husband Jeff and two children in an attached dwelling in the back of his surf shop, De Lima said.