It has been mulled over and promised for years, and now the state Legislature is finally taking a major step in reforming voting in Hawaii.

In one of the last votes taken Thursday, both chambers voted overwhelmingly to approve an election vote-by-mail bill to start next year.

The measure now goes to Gov. David Ige for his signature or rejection. Ige started his first term as governor with a call to do something about Hawaii’s nationally-recognized poor voter turnout, and vote by mail is seen by supporters as one way to encourage voting. There is, however, no indication whether Ige would approve the bill.

If he does sign it, Ige along with the Legislature will put Hawaii in the forefront of voting reform by becoming the fourth state to endorse universal vote by mail.

The action would mean that voters would not go to a polling place to vote in next year’s primary and general elections. All registered voters would be mailed a ballot, just as if they were voting absentee.

Also approved last week was the long-needed inclusion of mandatory recounts for elections in which the count differential between the top two candidates is 0.25% or 100 votes or less.

Mandatory recounts will be a help, but the major reform will be vote by mail.

Depending on how the counting is done, Hawaii ranks as the worst or within the bottom three states for voting in both the primary and general election. Vote by mail has shown some positive ways to reverse the trend.

First is the obvious. If every registered voter actually gets a ballot and an easy way to fill it out and return it, there is simply no more excuse that voters forgot to vote or were unable to get to a polling place; it means that voters didn’t vote because they refused to.

The bill contains a stern warning that anyone convicted of voter fraud is subject to to both a fine and/or imprisonment.

Election officials have been asking for statewide vote-by-mail legislation for a decade. They explain that technical expertise is in place to scan voter signatures accurately, quickly count the paper ballots and prepare a single result of the election.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported that election officials are saying to move forward.

“I think we’re ready for it,” Big Island Election Program Administrator Patricia Nakamoto told the newspaper. “By the 2020 primary election, I feel confident we will be ready. If there is a concern, the only concern I would have, would be getting information out to the voters (about) how critical it is for them to keep our office informed of their residences and mailing addresses. That will determine whether they receive their ballot or not.”

Once the bill is signed into law, Hawaii would join Oregon, Washington and Colorado as a leader in easily, inexpensively and effectively extending the ballot to all its citizens.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.