Question: I lost my signature return card. How can I submit my ballot without a verification signature?
Answer: We’ve been getting this or similar questions from numerous readers, and want to be crystal clear in the response, since some readers seem worried about potential voter fraud. We’ve gathered information from the state Office of Elections’ website and from spokeswoman Nedielyn Bueno to answer this and the following questions.
What you lost is the yellow postcard the state Office of Elections mailed to registered voters in April, asking them to update their signatures by signing and returning the postcard. This step was preferred but not required as Hawaii switched to by-mail elections. An older version of your signature was already on file and remains so, from when you registered to vote or got a state ID or driver’s license. Election officials will use it to verify your ballot.
You didn’t lose your ballot return envelope, which you must sign for your ballot to be counted. As we said, your signature on the ballot return envelope will be compared with your signature on file.
If the signature doesn’t match or you failed to sign the return envelope, the county Elections Division will notify you, and you will have up to five business days after the election to correct the problem so that your ballot can be counted. That’s why election officials wanted people to update their signatures ahead of the election: to avoid discrepancies due to age, infirmity or anything else that may have caused your penmanship to change over time.
So, the answer to your question is that you can’t submit a countable ballot without a verification signature, but such verification doesn’t depend solely on the signature card you and others didn’t return as requested. Go ahead and submit your ballot, and be sure to sign the return envelope — not the ballot itself. Your signature will be verified as described.
Q: I didn’t return that signature postcard a few months ago, and I haven’t received my ballot. Is that why? My neighbor got hers already.
A: No, ballots were mailed to registered voters regardless of whether they returned the signature verification postcard. Registered voters were due to receive them by Tuesday.
Q: I received my ballot and have filled it out. I understand why we have to sign the return envelope, but I wish they would have designed it differently so that my signature is not visible on the outside of the envelope.
A: If you prefer, you can place the signed ballot return packet into a separate envelope of your own, which you will have to address and pay postage for (if you mail it). Address it exactly as on the pre-addressed, postage-paid return envelope you sign. Mail that packet or drop it off at a ballot collection point. Other readers have made similar complaints, which we wrote about last year. See 808ne.ws/ 121119kline for more information.
Q: Will they empty the ballot drop boxes every day, or will the votes just sit there?
A: The voted ballots will be collected daily, Bueno said. On Oahu the bright orange ballot drop boxes are being set up at Waianae District Park, the Mililani Park and Ride, Neal S. Blaisdell Park, the Kahuku Community Center/Kahuku District Park, Kaneohe District Park and the Hawaii Kai Park and Ride, plus Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale. Find more information at honoluluelections.us.
Q: Are the voter service centers open now, since ballots have gone out?
A: No, Oahu’s two voter service centers — at Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale, where people can vote in person — are scheduled to open Monday. Voter service centers are different from the drop boxes described in the previous question, which should be available today.
Q: What is the cutoff time for sending back the ballot?
A: Ballots must be received by the county clerk’s office by 7 p.m. on Election Day. For the primary, that’s Aug. 8, a Saturday. Within Hawaii, mail your ballot five days ahead of time, to be safe. We emphasize that your ballot must be received by the deadline; postmarks don’t count.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
