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Hawaii News

Voters will be able to register and vote at all polling places

JAMM AQUINO / JULY 7

Test ballots were sorted during a testing of ballot- counting machines in July. All polling places are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. Saturday.

Wannabe voters for the first time will be able to register to vote — and vote — on the same day at all 235 polling places across the islands Saturday.

Or they can register online before election day, find their polling place and view their ballot by visiting elections.hawaii.gov.

All 235 polling places — including 144 on Oahu — are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Anyone in line by 6 p.m. will be allowed to register and vote, said Nedielyn Bueno, voter services section head for the state Office of Elections.

Once all polling places have closed Saturday night, the Office of Elections expects to release the first printout with results of early walk-in votes and some mail-in results around 6:30 p.m. A second printout around 8:30 p.m. is expected to include more mail-in votes, all early walk-in votes and some precinct results. More returns are expected at 10 and 11:30 p.m.

People planning to register to vote on election day could face some delays.

The so-called election day registration process follows up the 2016 election, which allowed same-day registration only at specific locations, such as Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale on Oahu, Bueno said.

While people in line by 6 p.m. Saturday will be allowed to both register and vote, Bueno recommends that people arrive earlier to register.

They’ll be required to have a government-issued photo identification, such as a passport, state ID or driver’s license. If not, they can use a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or a government-issued document with a name and address.

A poll worker will then call the Office of Elections control center to verify that would-be voters are at the correct polling place.

“Please be patient,” Bueno said. “They do need to complete a registration affidavit form, and we need to confirm they’re at the correct polling place. It is an extra step, so there may be some wait time.”

People who are already registered to vote should not experience any delays because they will go directly to a ballot-issuing station, Bueno said. Those registering to vote will be taken to a separate “voter assistance station,” she said.

“We’re going to do our best to have precinct officials walk the line and announce if anyone is registering to vote,” Bueno said. “If so, they’ll go to the voter assistance station.”

Mail-in voters can submit their completed ballots to any polling place within their county. A ballot postmarked on election day but not received by the County Clerk’s office by 6 p.m. will not be accepted.

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