New record set for Hawaii voter registrations

Following a record-setting primary election turnout, more than 832,000 people across the state already had registered to vote as of Thursday — and many likely already have voted through mail-in ballots for the upcoming Nov. 3 general election, which will decide Honolulu’s next mayor and the next U.S. president.

And, with the ability to register and vote on Election Day, the number of registered voters could grow even higher.

In August, Hawaii voters set a new record for registered primary voters at 795,248 and set a new record for votes cast in a primary, 380,152.

With more people registered to vote in the general election, state election officials are preparing for the possibility of an even bigger voter turnout in November.

“General elections always have higher turnouts than the primary,” said state Elections Chief Scott Nago.

For the general election it will be easier to vote. In addition to mailing in their ballots, voters will see even more ballot boxes across the state for people to deposit their ballots into — 47 total versus just 37 in the primary. Oahu will have 12.

Just like in the primary, there will also be eight traditional voter service centers across the state where people can register and vote on Election Day, including at Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale on Oahu.

The voter service centers replace Hawaii’s 235 old-school election precincts, which often were the source of delays in getting polls closed and election results announced.

But just like in the past, anyone in line waiting to vote by the scheduled 7 p.m. close of voting Nov. 3 will still be allowed to vote.

Hawaii’s first large-scale effort at mail-in voting went smoothly in August, despite concerns of a U.S. Postal Serv­ice slowdown, accusations by President Donald Trump that mail-in voting is flawed and fears the COVID-19 pandemic would suppress turnout.

Instead, with most of the mail-in votes already counted, most major island races in the primary were able to be called by the first election returns just after voting closed at 7 p.m.

As of Thursday over 124,000 ballots already had been cast, representing 15% of the island electorate, Nago said.

He was reluctant to predict another record-setting number of votes in the general election. But given that a general election always sees more votes than the preceding primary, Nago said, “I don’t see any reason it would be different.”

On election night, election officials expect that the first results after the polls close at 7 p.m. will include 90% of all votes — including all votes cast by mail-in ballots or in person from the 10-day period from Oct. 24 through Nov. 2.

A second set of returns scheduled for 10 p.m. is expected to include all of the votes cast on Election Day. The final returns are expected to be reported early the next morning.

Registered voters who have not received their ballots by today should contact their county clerks.

Voters should remember to sign the back of their envelopes and get them in them in the mail by Oct. 27 to ensure they are counted, election officials said. Or, they can drop them in a ballot drop box or at a voter service center before 7 p.m. Election Day.

Anyone with a mail-in ballot can still vote in person. But they do not need to bring in their mail-in ballot; election workers will ensure it is invalidated so people aren’t able to vote twice, Nago said.