The Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the City Council District 4 election result put a spotlight on absentee mail-in ballots — or, more specifically, on defects in how those ballots are collected and counted. The decision invalidated Trevor Ozawa’s razor-thin, 22-vote victory over Tommy Waters. It also came when the momentum is growing for converting Hawaii’s election system to entirely-by-mail voting. 

Companion bills in the Legislature, Senate Bill 560 and House Bill 1248, would enact voting by mail uniformly across all counties for all elections beginning in 2022.

All mail-in balloting has been touted as an antidote to Hawaii’s dismal voter turnout. Proponents say the practice has successfully increased voter turnout in other states that have adopted it, including Oregon, Washington and Colorado.

The mail-in ballot has grown more popular in Hawaii. According to the state Office of Elections, 63 percent of voters in the 2018 primary election cast their ballot in advance of Election Day. And of those, 89 percent voted by mail. The general election showed similar results.

Still, the court’s decision demonstrated pitfalls that need to be overcome. Some 350 mail-in ballots piled up at the Honolulu post office were not officially “received” by the City Clerk until after the statutory deadline of 6 p.m. and should not have been counted, the court said. All-mail-in voting legislation would have to clean up such problems by clarifying procedures to ensure the integrity and trustworthiness of the system.