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Hawaii Democrats pick Sanders in landslide over Clinton

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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Yolanda Frazier, right, and Michele Eliana sat together after voting during the Democratic presidential caucus on Saturday at Highlands Intermediate School in Pearl City.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Voters prepared to cast their ballots in the Democratic presidential caucus at a polling station at Kailua Intermediate School.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, center, greeted voters as she waited to vote in the Democratic presidential caucus at Kailua Intermediate School.

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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Voters waited to cast their ballots during the Democratic presidential caucus on Saturday at Highlands Intermediate School in Pearl City.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke at a campaign stop Saturday in Madison, Wis.

UPDATE 11:48 p.m

Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders scored a stunning victory over Hillary Clinton in Hawaii Democrats’ presidential preference poll Saturday, mobilizing a grass-roots campaign that signed up thousands of new Democrats and defied the wishes of almost the entire “old guard” of the party.

The Sanders victory in Hawaii capped a three-state sweep Saturday that showed his campaign continues to mount an unexpectedly potent alternative to former Secretary of State Clinton’s presidential bid. Sanders was also victorious in Washington and Alaska.

A number of Hawaii residents complained the party’s voting was cut off too early, leaving dozens of people who arrived late standing around in school parking lots without an opportunity to participate. Party officials had announced the polling would start at 1 p.m. but never explained when the voting would end, which caused confusion.

Sanders dominated the race with 70 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 30 percent, with all precincts counted. Turnout was expected to be strong and did not disappoint with 33,716 votes cast.

Sanders won 17 delegates and Clinton received eight, according to the final tally. The delegate tally does not include nine so-called Hawaii superdelegates, most of whom support Clinton.

In a statement issued after the preliminary results showed a lopsided victory, Sanders said, “I want to thank the people of Hawaii for their strong support and for turning out in huge numbers for Saturday’s caucuses. Nobody should have any doubt that this campaign has extraordinary momentum and that we have a path toward victory. In state after state, our grassroots effort has taken on the entire political establishment.”

Almost all of Hawaii’s Democratic establishment had endorsed Clinton, including former Govs. George Ariyoshi, Ben Cayetano and John Waihee, U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, former U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka and U.S. Rep. Mark Takai, among others.

The Sanders campaign countered by sending a half-dozen professional campaign staffers to Hawaii to organize telephone banks and an online voter registration push that targeted younger voters, where Sanders has strong appeal.

Democratic Party officials reported 7,000 new members have signed up since late last year, and most of those new members are believed to be Sanders supporters.

Bart Dame, authorized representative for the Sanders campaign, predicted even before the vote was announced that Saturday’s balloting would represent an important psychological victory for the Sanders camp.

“The national Clinton campaign, aided by many media outlets, are trying to say that Sanders should fold his tent and accept defeat and rally behind Clinton, but those of us active in the campaign believe that is premature, and that’s a form of psychological warfare,” Dame said. “We believe that Bernie still has a chance to win.”

As the date for the Hawaii voting approached, both campaigns rolled out slick direct-mail pieces and professional television advertising, with Sanders’ ads featuring popular U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Friends Aaron Toyama, 28, and Robert Young, 28, showed up at Highlands Intermediate School in Pearl City to vote for Sanders because they support his social policies. Toyama, a machinist and Pearl City resident, added that Sanders fights for the middle class.

“He’s been for the people since he started in office,” said Toyama, who sported a Sanders “A Future to Believe In” pin on his shirt.

Graham Watt, a Pacific Palisades resident and information technologist, said he was not surprised by the high turnout at Highlands Intermediate, where he cast a vote for Clinton.

“While I appreciate that Bernie Sanders is … energizing the discussion, I’m not with it because I’m not sure how he will implement it,” said Watt, 47. “(Clinton) is a bit more to the middle. She is more of a moderate.”

The Clinton campaign focused more on coaxing existing, mainstream party members to turn out for voting than on signing up new members. The Hawaii Government Employees Association and United Public Workers unions endorsed Clinton and were helpful in mobilizing party members to vote, according to Clinton campaign volunteer Ember Shinn.

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Star-Advertiser reporter Jayna Omaye, Dan Nakaso and Michael Tsai contributed to this report.

158 responses to “Hawaii Democrats pick Sanders in landslide over Clinton”

  1. jyorck says:

    really need to have mail in ballots, so easy! no lines, no machines, no volunteers etc!

    • den says:

      what? do you think the state wants to make it easy for you? lol!

      • st1d says:

        this is a party run event. nothing to do with the state.

        • den says:

          my bad.

        • den says:

          let me put it this way then:
          do you think the democratic party wants to make it easy for you? lol!

        • FARKWARD says:

          “den” is accurate “st1d” : There is no academic consensus on the most appropriate definition of the state. The term “state” refers to a set of different, but interrelated and often overlapping, theories about a certain range of political phenomena. “Critical Thinking”…

        • klastri says:

          FARKWARD – What are you talking about? There is an exact definition of what the State of Hawai’i is. There’s no critical thinking involved. It’s settled law. The process today was not a function of the State of Hawai’i.

        • Ronin006 says:

          st1d, this is Hawaii where the Democratic Party is the state.

        • serious says:

          at1d–correct, but the big issue isn’t the the results of the presidential poll, it’s the stupid super delegates that the Democratic Party has which supersedes what the people want. The Republicans have a different system that is more fair–the super delegates vote for the candidate the people voted for. The system the D’s use is just like what the Legislature uses, except the SD’s are called lobbyists!!!

    • btaim says:

      That defeats the purpose of a CAUCUS, as compared to simply voting at the polls.

      • GorillaSmith says:

        No caucuses here, bro. This is just the people repudiating Hillary’s disgraceful legacy of lies, corruption and utter incompetence. Feel the Bern!

        • Boots says:

          Hardly. What disgraceful legacy of lies, corruption, etc. does Hillary have? I primarily voted for Bernie as Hillary has shown bad judgement in the past and I am not convinced she won’t in the future. This hardly makes her a liar or corrupt.

          I am glad that Bernie won. This reminds me of 1988 where the republicans chose Pat Robertson but the democratic outsider, Michael Jackson narrowly lost. Go Bernie!

        • castle001 says:

          No! It is the promise of free stuff from Bernie that is the draw.

        • wondermn1 says:

          TRUMP is going to eat the BURN alive, as other than the state of Hawaii the USA does not want to
          become a socialistic nation and THAT is the direction of the Sanders camp sooooooooo VOTE TRUMP TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. TRUMP WILL Reduce the size of government and negotiate with other governments and win back the pride in America. the dems did not have much of a choice it was either a proven lying lady or an old man who thinks that those who work should support those who don’t. NOW IS THE TIME TO JUMP SHIP AND VOTE FOR TRUMP AND SAVE AMERICA

        • Giligan says:

          Sanders’ social programs will cost $13 trillion. Who do you think will pay for it? PRP?

        • amela says:

          The truth hurts and Hillary is hurting. BTW aren’t super delegates suppose to be neutral? I see in this article that they are for Clinton.

    • pj737 says:

      Is anyone surprised the Bernie supporters (majority of those at the polls today) are whining? They’ll whine about everything and anything they can.

      • BluesBreaker says:

        Did you read the article?

        Voting ended at 2:30 p.m. at Manoa Elementary School, which prevented Dr. Danelo Canete and his wife from voting. Canete, a Clinton supporter, said his son voted earlier in the afternoon, and reported that there were lines at the school. So, Canete and his wife decided to wait for a while to allow the lines to go down. When they reached the school at 2:34, they were told the voting was finished.

        Why on earth would someone think the caucus would last indefinitely, just to accommodate their lack of punctuality. The presidential preference poll is just the first order of business. Precinct officers and delegates to the county and state conventions have to be elected, too. It’s inconsiderate to make people who came for those activities to wait more than an hour and half for stragglers to show up.

        • Kealaula says:

          I was amazed at people showing up three and four hours late who were angry they missed the vote. It’s an appointment with a thousand neighbors…the stragglers want to keep a thousand people waiting in the room in case they wander in by and by, hours late?

        • Ken_Conklin says:

          Sanders won in a huge landslide. Now think how ANGRY the Dem voters will be when they find out that Hillary will get a majority of the Hawaii delegates because of the “super delegates” — the big cheeses like Hirono, Schatz, Takai, Ige, and a few others who are delegates because of their positions and who have announced their support for Hillary. Get ready for a riot.

        • Ken_Conklin says:

          Only 32,000 votes were cast? But in 2008 it was 70,000, and this year the honchos printed 100,000 ballots just to be ready for huge crowds that didn’t turn out. Looks like nobody likes Hillary except the fat cats. The Hillary people were also working hard to turn out the vote, so the low number of votes she got is an even bigger disappointment. I actually got a phone call from a human being asking me to go to vote for Hillary. I had a good laugh at that lady before hanging up.

        • HanabataDays says:

          Hello? How can you claim people “showed up late” and “straggled in” when there was no set, pre-announced time for voting to be closed?

          The closing times, as it turns out, were specific to each voting location and varied wildly from one to the next. Now, after the fact, we have the Dem party chair claiming “well, if nobody showed up for half an hour, we closed the polling place.”

          Compare that with the chorus of voices saying “we showed up to vote and were denied”, and the State party saying “We accepted provisional ballots, but we haven’t decided whether they’ll count”.

          Is it any wonder that people are left feeling manipulated and used by the local Dem establishment? That’s because they were.

          I’m a lifelong Hawaii Dem who’s praying that the new influx of Sanders supporters will turn the establishment on its head just like we did back in the early 70s. Obviously we’ve gone too long without a palace coup.

        • Boots says:

          Ken, At this time, the Supper Delegates are generally for sweet Hillary. May not be the case when the convention actually starts.

        • Boots says:

          Ken, turnout was big. In Kailua it was in the same ball park as 2008. 38,000 may not seem large until you compare it to past elections. Until Obama, the turn out at caucuses had pretty low turnout.

      • ellinaskyrt says:

        I’m a Clinton supporter, and I think just a few things in terms of signage and notification of end time would have helped enormously. Additionally, the Dem Party should have girded their website’s loins for the onslaught of people registering as Democrats. The Presidential Preference Poll could definitely have been better organized.

        • Boots says:

          That is true, it could have been better organized. Needs to be remembered that these caucuses are run by all volunteer help with little training. In the future, hopefully the party will make some adjustments.

      • justmyview371 says:

        Quit whining pj.

      • wondermn1 says:

        Notice the Dems can’t even run a caucus right and closed shop on its own followers before the voters could make it to the polls WHAT A JOKE THE DEMS ARE!!!!!

    • FARKWARD says:

      And, no way of Validating the Ballots and/or whether they have been counted or not…

      • FARKWARD says:

        “There are a whole lot of high-IQ lunatics running around detailing all the crimes of the State…and then saying the wonderful answer is the State, which suddenly becomes the messiah in radiant robes. These loons are the crown princes of cognitive dissonance. They’re the Mickey Mouse Club of political philosophy.” When you boil it down, the formula is simple: take any rotting, stench-ridden institution of society that appears to promise good things for all, and make it free. Make it available to everyone with a pulse.
        “We’ve got this wonderful aging army of giant octopuses, and we want to bring the whole population into their grasp. Won’t it be wonderful? We’ll call this army Mommy and Daddy. It’ll work. Promise.”

      • awahana says:

        Yes. I was in line for 2.5 hours in the hot day today, and I didn’t see any way of preventing any tom foolery of ballots. Feeling the Bern.

      • Kealaula says:

        ? There were observers from both candidates overseeing the count at every precinct table from beginning to end. The count and tally was one hundred percent transparent.

      • Boots says:

        What is there to validate? No hanging chards. No one cared if someone used an X instead of a check. Votes were counted. I was there for Kailua. All votes were counted in increments of 25 with observers from both camps watching.

      • PoiDoggy says:

        @Farkward, I don’t know how they did it elsewhere, but caucus rules state in addition to the precinct leader, a representative from each side is chosen to verify counting of the ballots. I gathered with my neighbors in my precinct. Our ballots were handed in. They were separated into Hillary/Bernie/Undecided piles. We were all there watching it happen. There was one undecided; easy for everybody to verify. The Hillary person then counted the Hillary ballots, right in front of everyone. The Bernie person did the same with the Bernie ballots. Then the two switched piles (so the Hillary person was now counting the Bernie ballots and vice versa), to see that the count came out the same. Which is did. That is how they were counted. Very transparent.

    • saywhatyouthink says:

      Easy to do mail in ballots could alter the outcome of the election. That’s why the ruling democrats haven’t done it yet. They will resist any change in the current system since it virtually assures the re-election of the same corrupt (D) people.
      If it ain’t broke ….. don’t fix it.

    • Boots says:

      I think this needs to really be looked at. I think it was mentioned that another caucus had mail in voting. But it also needs to be remembered that the preference poll is only a small part of the HI caucus. The main point of the meeting is to elect precinct officers and delegates to the state convention. These votes cannot be done by mail. (Unknown who is running)

      Kailua had a very good nite for officers and delegates. We had a full slate of all positions filled. Perhaps my comments about Bernie now wants you to stay involved had some effect. 🙂

  2. ghstar says:

    I just voted at Ilima School caucus. Very chaotic and much confusion. Ballots were collected in a brown paper bag. Please figure out how to do this by mail.

  3. seaborn says:

    Just returned home after voting in the Democratic caucus. I did cast my vote, but that was the most disorganized, non-informational set-up I have ever encountered. There were No information posters/flyers instructing voters on procedures, No signs were displayed for lines for Registered and Non-Registered voters, No signage for the different precincts inside the polling auditorium, No marked lines to sign up for voting cards, no hats, shirts, or name tags identifying poll workers. Totally unorganized, no wonder people don’t want to go into a poll location to vote.

  4. RW says:

    Complete chaos at Kailua Intermediate School. Unless the democrats get more organized, Trump will surely win.

    There has to be a better way. Chuck Prentiss collecting all the ballots in a tattered old envelope. They’ll have to count all these by hand. Mail in ballots would surely be a better way.

    • seaborn says:

      That’s where I was. Total chaos.

    • Smiling says:

      Zoo, chaos, stupidity today at Kailua. I almost walked out! Couldn’t even find the guy collecting ballots…when I did, he had a tattered old manila envelope with ballots practically spewing out of them! PLEASE, someone in the Democratic Party here….stand up and take responsibility for this total ridiculousness today, and promise you’ll get it right next time. We looked like a bunch of idiots.

      • Boots says:

        Actually Kailua district was not organized since the district chair left. So volunteers were put together late with little training. Could it have been done better? yes, but I really don’t think it was worse than 2008. Roughly the same amount of people voted.

      • wondermn1 says:

        SMILING HAS THAT RIGHT, “We looked like a bunch of idiots”. iT WAS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVE THAT MANY IDIOTS IN HAWAII. Oh I forgot that the majority of the voters are on section 8 or government handouts of one form or the other. Hawaii is known as the Welfare state as well as the 99% Democrat state. so the BURN would do good here since all the local Democrats are either on the take or on welfare.

    • Kealaula says:

      After the presidential preference poll, precincts voted for officers to run the next election, and voted for district officers. How would we nominate, second, and vote for them in a mailed ballot?

      If you’d stayed till the end you could have helped next time. Next time!

    • wondermn1 says:

      The professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that. (Please pass this on) These are possibly the 5 best sentences you’ll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

      1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

      2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

      3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

      4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

      5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation

      VOTE TRUMP 2016

  5. st1d says:

    headline is wrong. this is not a caucus. it’s a party preference poll, there is no discussion before voting.

    • tploomis says:

      There was plenty of political discussion at the Keolu Elementary precinct in Kailua. But then, you know those Kailua Democrats, always looking for a place to express their opinions.

  6. sizu says:

    The Pearl City Highlands Intermediate precinct was closed at 2:15pm. Why? To eliminate the many Bernie Sanders supporters that were turning out? It’s terrible that this kind of shenanigans happens in Hawaii with Democrats doing this against Democrats.

    • wiliki says:

      Nope. We ran out of voters.

      • aomohoa says:

        Full of it as usual. You disgust me!

        • MililaniGal says:

          Apparently, according to amahoa, everyone is “full of it” except him. After reading all 100 comments so far, I believe the one most “full of it” is amahoa.

          Mahalo and Aloha to all who put up with Party incompetence today.

          Ms. Ohigashi should resign. She had the nerve to appear on TV news to say that the polls closed, because no one was in line. She praised how well everything ran. Most of the comments here don’t support her.

    • Wahine658 says:

      Why do you believe that Bernie Sanders supporters were targeted? Do you have proof? Or perhaps you have the gift of special sight? Or are you the typical Sanders fan who cries “Woe is me” because Bernie has you believing that everyone is against him and his so-called Revolution?

      • sarge22 says:

        Bernie will wipe out the liar. Vote Tulsi

        • Wahine658 says:

          Tulsi is looking out for Tulsi. Tulsi is a military veteran yet she supports the person who has very little knowledge about the military or foreign affairs. Is she hoping to become Defense Secretary so she can advise Sanders? I’ve never trusted the Gabbards since they changed parties from Republican to Democrat. The military take an oath of loyalty. I don’t believe Tulsi feels loyalty towards anyone or thing.

        • Wahine658 says:

          My mistake. It was her father who switched from Republican to Democrat because it was to his advantage since Hawaii is heavily Democrat.

        • poipoo says:

          my Veteran buddies trust Tulsi & Sanders. yeah Tulsi’s always been a Democrat but if she was looking for a career boost she would have endorsed Clinton instead of risking her entire political career on Sanders ya think?
          It’s the mindset of Bernie that is admirable. i watched/read more than one of his speeches on wars and what Tulsi’s saying is true: He knows to look ahead for the consequences and is not one to rush to judgement. Consider the trillions of dollars & lives spent on ‘wars of convenience and power,’ and then imagine that money being spent to rebuild the crumbling infrastructure of this country.

  7. Mr Mililani says:

    Mililani High School doors were kept open if people were waiting in line. It was packed!!!!!

  8. Bothrops says:

    “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” – Will Rogers

  9. wiliki says:

    Go Clinton…

    • seaborn says:

      Yes. Please Clinton, go away. Hillary is Plan B.

      • wiliki says:

        She’s our best to beat Trump.

        • aomohoa says:

          Too bad she is a liar, a crook and has sold out to big money for millions!!!!!

        • HanabataDays says:

          Low-information statement. All predictive polls so far in 2016 have shown Sanders beating any of the GOTP candidates by twice the margin that Clinton can manage. These polls can’t all be “flukes” or “outliers”.

          The most recent one shows Sanders beating Drumpf by 20 points. Clinton would beat him only by 12.

          If you can cite any polls that show the reverse, please produce them.

        • Boots says:

          Yet the polls show Bernie doing better against the Donald, in fact all of the republican candidates. i know, Bernie hasn’t faced the attacks like Hillary has but fact is Bernie wins because he is sincere and he makes a lot of sense.

        • koolau says:

          Like Frank Fasi, anything Trump does, the media will blast it all over the news, yet Frank did one heck of a job running the city. Clinton has the media in her pocket (except for Fox News), so she’ll continue sneaking around issues such as Benghazi, her e-mail situations, the Clinton foundation. It remains to be seen should the FBI recommend she be brought to the Grand Jury, if the DOJ will authorize it. Obama is the one who will dictate the DOJ’s decision. Considering everything stated above, the media will keep Trump’s Presidency quite transparent as opposed to what we have now….and terrifyingly, perhaps Clinton! Tulsi looks brilliant now, resigning her DNC position to back Bernie.

      • inverse says:

        What?? Hillary is still on birth control? Just the thought of this will give me nightmares.

    • SchofieldSoldier says:

      ABC…..anyone but Clinton!!

    • Boots says:

      Hillary didn’t do very well in Kailua. It was basically Bernie by 2 to 1. Go Bernie!

      • saywhatyouthink says:

        And yet Hillary will win. The Hawaii Democratic party has already decided the outcome, that’s clear by the way they decided to run the polls today.

        • HanabataDays says:

          Whether it’s 100% accurate or not, that’s the conclusion that a lot of voters are reaching today — and understandably so. It’s just too obvious a connection to be purely coincidental: They were counting the ballots in the back room and realized which way the tide had turned. And they had to try to do something.

          “It’s the head of the fish that rots first”

        • Boots says:

          well Hillary didn’t win Hawaii. While the super delegates are for Hillary now, this may change by convention time.

          Fact is Hillary does not do as well against a republican candidate as Bernie. While Sweet Hillary may end up winning the nomination, hopefully she will be cemented to the left.

      • Wahine658 says:

        How do you know it’s Bernie by 2 to 1? No results have been posted. Did you peek in the ballot box?

        • sarge22 says:

          Bernie Sanders won Hawaii’s presidential preference poll today, defeating Hillary Clinton.

          With 88 percent of the vote counted, Sanders led Clinton 71 percent to 29 percent.

  10. psyo808 says:

    Turned away at Mililani High School, polling station closed at 3:30.

  11. rsopro82 says:

    Our family was turned away from Koko Head Elementary at 2:30p saying the precinct was closed. That’s messed up.

  12. aomohoa says:

    Why can’t they anticipates the problems that happen? The organizers are just so incompetent!

  13. retire says:

    Confusion and frustration- our new state motto.

    • aomohoa says:

      Is that really new? LOL

    • bumbye says:

      This was not a State election. It was a Party caucus. Blame the Democrats for the confusion.

      • wondermn1 says:

        Anyway you look at it, It was ran by the Demo’s and they screwed it up royally!!!!! Just like the Hawaii government officials ( city & state) who are 99% demo’s and look how badly they have screwed up Hawaii. We have our Mayors using the P card in Korean (Buy me drinky bars)hostess bars and the other Mayors claiming the historic house rules to get a $300.00 property tax bill. Our City Council ( again 99% demo’s) who has accepted more from the RAIL CONTRACTORS to shove RUSTY THE RAIL DOWN OUR THROATS. Say No to the Demo machine in Hawaii. Its time to jump ship and vote for the man who is going to make America Great again Mr. Trump.. Be aware the demo’s are spending untold Millions to bad mouth TRUMP Like PRP ( John white) did Ben Cayetano and Tom Berg. Lets hope our Nation sees that and does not let the super pacs destroy America like the last 7 years have done for Americas pride. JUMP SHIP AND VOTE
        T R U M P

  14. kamoae says:

    This was so disorganized! No signs at Moanalua High School telling you where the voting place was. No sign telling you the time the polls closed. Just a big mess. The doors opened at 11:00 a.m. and people were expected to sign in and wait until 1:00 p.m. when the voting started. The polls were supposed to close at 1:30 but those who came after were permitted to cast a vote. A half hour for everyone to vote? Gosh, our Democratic Party is really a mess and very unrealistic.

  15. Marauders_1959 says:

    “She said turnout for the presidential preference poll was comparable to 2008 when Hawaii-born Barack Obama was running for his first term.”

    Not !!!

  16. Honeybadger says:

    Totally disorganized! Ran out of forms! People in line but not knowing where they were going. No one knew where to vote. The American primary elections are shameful on multiple levels. The rest of the world see us as a ship of fools!

    • Smiling says:

      Totally agree….Kailua Intermediate School was a ZOO! No directions, no signs, no one telling People what to do, what line to stand in…nothing. Hundreds of people milling around looking totally lost!!!

  17. lespark says:

    If anyone votes for Hillary they are confused. First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State. Batting .000. Three strikes and you are out.

  18. lee1957 says:

    Why wouldn’t they have a uniform closing time instead of close whenever? And for all the Gruberites wanting mail in ballots please think about that before asking again.

  19. earlson says:

    Fixed to make sure Hilary wins. After all most of Hawaii’s super delegates support Hilary so why shouldn’t the polling places close early after the older Democrats have voted.

    • geralddeheer says:

      Not fixed, just incompetently organized. The Party apparatus is simply incapable of launching a plot of that nature. In my precinct, everyone got to vote, representatives from all camps saw the process. So, in a micro sense it worked. However, planning for this critical event was lacking, incoherent, and frankly, lost. I can say that in our precinct, in spite of the poor planning, we got the job done. We had at least 240 people crowded in around 4 elementary school cafeteria tables. All precincts shared the cafeteria (if fire marshals were there, the event would have been stopped). So, the people who showed up, due to their cooperation, got to vote. The Democratic Party of Hawaii simply can not handle this process of their own creation. I trust that when they rail against voter suppression, they look within first.

  20. BookFan says:

    We were lucky. Though the line was long, the Jefferson Elementary site was well organized with lots of helpful volunteers helping those waiting in line.

  21. bleedgreen says:

    The mailed notice did not indicate a closing time to cast a vote. Closing at 2:20 seems unreasonably early. I cast my vote at Ilima Elementary at 2:30 pm. Easy, no problem here.

  22. justmyview371 says:

    Voting spots should be kept open for at least the scheduled hours. Not closed when the volunteers want to quit. A good portrayal of the Democratic Party.

  23. lespark says:

    That’s what happens when you have someone in charge that comes from another island. Disconnect.

  24. iwanaknow says:

    A lot of trees were killed to print up 100,000 ballots?

  25. justmyview371 says:

    The same party that brought us Obama!

  26. yobo says:

    All this commotion for a measly 4 electoral votes.

    Does it really matter ?

    • FARKWARD says:

      NO it doesn’t… You and I don’t “elect” The President; it’s the 1% of the 1% who anoints and appoints The President. So, on my Ballot–I’m writing-in “”KERMIT” The Frog”, because he’s an empathetic and honest Candidate and if we’re going to have a PUPPET in the White House I trust Kermit’s PUPPETMASTERS more than those of the other alleged Candidates… (..maybe The Easter-Bunny(?))

    • st1d says:

      it’s not the general elections. it’s the run up polls to the democrat convention where hawaii’s 25 delegates will cast their votes for their candidates.

      the democrat candidate for president needs 2383 delegate votes to win the democrat nomination.

      • MililaniGal says:

        Go figga? Sanders winning 70% to 30%. One comment above says Sanders will get 17 delegates, Clinton 8 delegates. However, all of the Hawaii’s 9 super delegates are backing Clinton. Total delegates count is Sanders (a 2.5 to 1 winner) 17, Clinton 17. Must be that Common Core New Math that Democrats have pushed on our kids.

  27. lespark says:

    No disrespect but whoever was in charge please you might want to take another career path.

  28. justmyview371 says:

    As usual, the Hawaii Democratic Party ran out of fingers and toes to count.

  29. Smiling says:

    I was at Kailua Intermediate School…it was a ZOO, bedlam, ridiculous! NO ONE telling you what to do, where to go, where to stand, etc..people standing around (not even in lines) trying to figure it out for themselves. Then, someone who was a volunteer in Precinct One’s “group”, started shouting out names at the top of her lungs, and we all wondered how she got the names. NO ONE told you anything.

    A far embarrassing day to be a Democrat!!! I was disgusted and almost walked out before “voting.” Couldn’t even find the guy who was supposed to be collecting the ballots.

    • Smiling says:

      ..and when I finally found the guy who was collecting ballots, it was in a large manila envelope….without even an overlap seal on it!!

      Ridiculous!!!!

    • Wazdat says:

      hahahaha, just one more reason to vote for TRUMP for some Real Change.

    • mitt_grund says:

      Given that the Dem district/precinct officials are all supporters of the likes of Schatz, Hirono, Takai and former governors who are all in Clinton’s camp, the local party must be figuring how to rig the ballots or have already done so, much like they did in Arizona to give the primary to Clinton. Hence, the extreme disarray and dismay of the precinct party officials at seeing such a huge turnout. A big turnout would tend to favor Sanders. To fix an election with so many watching makes it nerve-wracking so ergo the huge screw-ups and turning voters away. The pro-Clinton officials just couldn’t hack it. Despite saying that the results would be out by 8 pm, will probably be later as they try to figure how to rig the count after the fact.

    • wondermn1 says:

      IRT: Smiling, THEY MUST HAVE LET Larry Bartlett from KEEP IT KAILUA (THE HATERS GROUP) run the voting at Kailua Intermediate. He really is a joke on the Democrat party and America in general. They (DEMO’S) forgot the word ALOHA and showed how well they mess things up.

  30. bluevette says:

    It seems like there are a fair number of posters from Kailua. If anyone is curious how the Republican caucus went, here goes. It was Tuesday night 3/8 at Enchanted Lake Elementary School. The polls were open statewide 6PM-8PM. If you were in line at 8PM you got to vote. The paring lot was jammed, the lines snaked around the school, but once inside the tables were marked OK (check-in was by first letter of last name). There was an actual ballot box. 952 votes were cast in Kailua.

  31. Pacificsports says:

    Trump moves that much closer to being President/Dictator.

  32. aiea7 says:

    this is false hopes. there were many voters who did not vote but at the real election will come out to support Hillary. predict that sanders will eventually lose. he makes too many false promises and he knows he cannot deliver; he is a desperate man.

    • HanabataDays says:

      This WAS “the real (PRIMARY) election” for Hawaii. “They” came out but they supported Bernie by more than 3 to 1. Looks like HRC’s the desperate one — or should be.

  33. MichaelG says:

    I volunteered at one of the caucus. This was very poorly done and bad communication. Each place closed when they saw fit. It is time to move away from a caucus to a full election.

  34. poipoo says:

    now tomorrow i want to see a bit SANDERS WINS like you did for tyrmp

  35. mctruck says:

    Let’s STOP Trump; that’s all.

  36. 808comp says:

    If Sanders keep winning like he is i can see some super delegates shifting their support from Clinton over to Sanders. Gabbard must be thrilled.

  37. Tita Girl says:

    Sanders has been around since 1991 and has done what?
    Clinton has been around since forever. And we know what she has done and accused of doing.
    Kasich has been around since the early 80’s….Cruz since the 90’s–remember that recount in FL….Trump has been around pulling strings since his daddy taught him how to pull strings.
    These are the people we have to choose from, the same bunch who gave us this so called broken system that they each vow to change All of them had their hands in creating this mess in one way or another. We keep putting the same people or type of people back in office because that’s the devil we know. Choose your devil wisely.

  38. Pookie_Baby says:

    Get ready for your taxes to go up to 80%

  39. honupono says:

    Clinton will still have more delegates, get over it Burnt.

  40. whs1966 says:

    “Sanders won 17 delegates and Clinton received eight, according to the final tally. The delegate tally does not include nine so-called Hawaii superdelegates, most of whom support Clinton.” These “super delegates” should at least vote proportionally to represent the voice of the party members who voted. If they don’t, the voters should remember this when these arrogant people run for re-election.

  41. cojef says:

    After reading most of the comments feel that the electorate in Hawaii are more intelligent than is represented by the the make up of the local establishment. Many of the commenters voted their conscience which is represented by the character of who they are, They want honesty in their government and representatives. Yet the establishment will back someone who lacks character. The Super Delegates all support Hillary? The lack of transparency of the State and local governments are a manifestation of the being in power. The current national administration is a prime example.

  42. Hawaii_Libertarian says:

    What a crazy system. Sanders beats Clinton 70-30 in popular voting but both walk away with 17 delegates each, thanks to super delegates. So much for “democratic”. What a joke.

    • honupono says:

      lol. Clinton will be the nominee. Sanders will take his campaign to the convention, he will be given time to speak on the floor, to the delegates, and Clinton will have to hear his mana’o. Then let’s get together and defeat Trump. Clinton will need Sanders’ people’s votes. You cannot make up a deficit of 700 plus delegates.

  43. mitt_grund says:

    The lopsided vote is also a rebuke against the ol’ boy politics that has dominated Dem Party for decades, beginning with the Nisei 442nd and 100th takeover of the party in the 50’s that led to a 60 plus-year death grip on the party machinery.

    This is telling the Dem ol’ boy super delegates they might do well to listen to their constituents and change their commitment to the chameleon known as Hillary who hobnobs with Wall Street and tells them that they are not responsible for the 2008 stock market crash and the failure of “AAA” stocks based on rotten subprime mortgages. And who takes YUGE fees from them to tell them that. Yes, Wall Street thrust YUGE amounts of $$$$$$ at you to say nicey nice things about them … and you took the money and gave them what they wanted to hear. Good going, girl … good going.

    So, Hillary, according to your standard speaking contract, you own the rights to all those speeches, so you should be able to release the transcripts of those speeches to prove this is not so. Don’t be a naughty girl and go altering those transcripts in the same vein you concocted your pronouncements that you justified your use of an in-(Clinton)house unsecured server to store your DOS email.

    Had you not been so greedy and covetous of Wall Street money and so sabi on email security, you might well have swept your way into the Dem presidential nomination, but the rank-and-file Dems, the grassroots people see you as the naked Emp[eror]ress that you are.

    And your toady super delegates should well realize that and reconsider their commitment to you. You have chinks and corroded holes in that armor of yours, and the hoi polloi see you for what you are and have become, a Tammany Hall Dem full of hot air.

  44. justmyview371 says:

    People are trying to clean out the insiders such as the Hawaii Democratic establishment.

  45. roxie says:

    Should the SUPER DELEGATES vote with the majority of the people? Are they representing themselves or the people that voted them in office??? WTH…SMH

  46. Winston says:

    Thanks, Democrats, for proving that boundless stupidity is a bipartisan characteristic. You’ve just given the nod to a man whose ideology was all the rage— in 1930. To love a socialists after the historically documented, massive failures of the Soviet Union and China is beyond understanding.

  47. karen chun says:

    Clinton is a bit more in the middle = she’s what the GOP used to be and not much of a Dem.

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