‘Ranked-choice’ Democratic ballot might confuse voters

Some Democratic Party of Hawaii voters such as Jack Magann, 77, of Waialua, are confused by the party’s ballot he received for its upcoming presidential primary in April.

With 10 Democratic presidential candidates on the ballot — including seven who have dropped out or suspended their campaigns — Magann believes many voters will be confused.

The ballot asks you to select your top three choices.

Magann wants to pick only one candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and not three.

Magann worries that the new, “ranked-choice” ballot will be invalidated if he picks only one Democratic candidate — and refuses to select two more in order of preference.

The answer is no, according to Kate Stanley, interim chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

“If you vote for one person, it’s valid,” Stanley said. “You don’t have to vote for three.”

Ranked-choice voting means the voting is done by round. The low vote- getter in each round is dropped from the race. The rounds continue until only candidates with 15% or more of the vote remain.

Since the only candidates still in the race are Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden and Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii congresswoman, it is possible all three will get 15% or more.

The Democratic Party explained, “Your vote will always remain with your top choice candidate unless they are dropped as the low-vote getter.”

If your top choice is dropped as the low vote-getter, your vote will go to your second choice. If your second choice is dropped as the low vote-getter in a later round, your vote will go to your third choice.

In 2016 Sanders won 70% of Hawaii Democrats’ votes compared with only 30% for Hilary Clinton.

“I’m old-fashioned,” Magann said. “I like one person, one vote. Voters will be confused. My son said, ‘This is a mess. There will be a lot of void votes.’”

Asked how many questions she has fielded over the new ballots, Stanley said, “I wouldn’t say it’s overwhelming, but there have been sporadic questions.”

Ranked-choice voting is intended to generate more interest among Hawaii Democratic Party members by giving them more options for candidates, Stanley said.

Only party members can vote in person or via mail for the April 4 party-run presidential primary. Hawaii voters who vote Democratic but don’t belong to the party are ineligible.

“Just because you vote Democratic doesn’t make you a member of the party,” Stanley said.

To become a member of the Hawaii Democratic Party, you must fill out an online form or print and mail in a form. The forms are available at hidems.org/join. The party’s phone number is 596-2980.

The ballot change follows other states and communities that are turning to ranked-choice voting, Stanley said.

“It’s to increase participation so people feel their second choice is also important, and their third choice,” she said. “We wanted to encourage more people to be interested in voting, so we did it that way.”

Hawaii has one of the lowest rates of voter turnout in the country.

The first batch of ballots went out in late February, before many of the major candidates dropped out of the race. A follow-up round of identical ballots will be mailed to new members of the party in advance of the April 4 voting, Stanley said.

The candidates are listed alphabetically, beginning with former Vice President Joe Biden and including U.S. Rep. Gabbard. The list of candidates ends with Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang, who are all no longer in the race.

Even a candidate who is no longer running for the White House can pick up at least one delegate by receiving 15% of the vote in either Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District or 2nd Congressional District, Stanley said.

“But if you voted for Pete (Buttigieg) and he doesn’t get to 15%, then your second vote will count,” she said.

The party-run presidential primary is scheduled for 21 polling sites across the state. Locations can be found by visiting hawaiidemocrats.org.

The results of the vote will be announced April 4.