The Hawaii Supreme Court properly ruled that the counting of late ballots, received after 6 p.m. on Election Day, is invalid (“Hawaii Supreme Court invalidates Trevor Ozawa’s 22-vote victory over Tommy Waters,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 25).

The government attorney argued that the 6 p.m. deadline was not a firm one. The Republican Party has been asking about this ridiculous interpretation for years.

It’s interesting that the state cannot hand-count the late ballots to verify authenticity because they were commingled with the legal ballots.

Now Trevor Ozawa is very upset and regrets that taxpayers will have to waste money and time for a legal count and be forced to go to the polls again. Election officials should have followed the rules the first time.

Bruce Black

Diamond Head

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