This inaugural election cycle for Hawaii’s statewide vote-by-mail program was going to proceed with some kinks to work out, even before the pandemic swept the globe. But once the coronavirus upended the lives of so many families, the hurdles for the new system notched up and the need for voter help increased.

So it is entirely justified that citizen groups would seek — and that the government would provide — an expansion of the “voter service centers” that provide in-person election assistance, as well as voting machines, for those who need that option.

This week Common Cause Hawaii, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and ACLU of Hawaii Foundation banded together to raise an alarm about what they describe as unconstitutional “election gaps.” They want the state Office of Elections and county clerks to move toward a solution by Friday, leaving open the prospect of legal action.

They sent a letter, signed by attorney Jeff Portnoy, to state Attorney General Clare Connors on Monday, seeking seven “voter service centers” in addition to the eight now open, for the Nov. 3 general election. This request follows legislation that failed to pass at county and state levels to accomplish a similar improvement.

The Aug. 8 primary election will proceed according to the plan set out by the state Office of Elections. This means the City and County of Honolulu as well as Hawaii County each have two centers, with one each sited on Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Lanai. These are sites, opened 10 days in advance of the election, where voters can register and cast a ballot at a polling machine.

Scott Nago, the state’s chief election officer, said on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Spotlight Hawaii webcast that since 2014, more people have voted prior to Election Day than at a polling place.

However, voters also have been accustomed to having an in-person option, should early- and absentee-voting plans fall through. They could vote at a polling station on Election Day.

Similar options are needed under these difficult circumstances, but at present voters will be extremely constrained. On Oahu, the centers are located only at Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale. This could result in late-deciding voters forming long lines and crowds — and risking COVID-19 infections.

Among them are many rural voters who don’t have home mailboxes, Portnoy wrote; and with the pandemic and its economic repercussions, more people will be finding their housing, and mailing addresses, in flux.

The groups charge that the current system violates the state Constitution’s guarantee that all registered voters are qualified to cast a ballot. The state already has defined reasonable travel distances by building district courts to serve set areas.

So the request is that any district court area have a voting center. As a result, the complainants are asking for three additional centers on Oahu, in district court areas of Kaneohe, Pearl City and Wahiawa; three additional centers in Maui County, near Lahaina, Hana and Lanai City; and one more center in Waimea, Hawaii island.

Voting by mail has become controversial nationally in this election cycle, with many states working to bulk up that option quickly due to the pandemic. All voting systems — in person, electronic and mail-in — do have their security vulnerabilities.

But Hawaii has most of the basic structures in place to make voting by mail an acceptably secure, rational option in this crisis. It is equally rational to insist that support systems are there to ensure everyone has a reasonable chance to exercise their democratic franchise. The right to vote is a fundamental one, and must be safeguarded.