Question: In the past I have asked our messenger to drop off ballots for my family (three voters) into a ballot drop box at City Hall. We prefer the drop box because our signatures are on the outside of the ballot return envelopes, and we are not comfortable with them going through the regular mail. I’ve tracked our ballots in the past, so I know they have been received by the Election Office. But after watching a segment on “60 Minutes” recently, I discovered that in some states it is illegal to have a third party drop off ballots. What is the law in Hawaii concerning a third party depositing ballot return envelopes in a ballot drop box?
Answer: Your practice is legal in Hawaii, where state law says a voter may return their marked ballot in “any manner,” as long as it is submitted on time and with the voter’s signed identification envelope. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-104 for details, 808ne.ws/HRS11-104.
Nedielyn Bueno, a spokesperson for the state Office of Elections, confirmed this, saying that “a voter can have someone else drop off their signed ballot return envelope to a drop box.”
Most other states also allow someone besides the voter to return an absentee or vote-by-mail ballot, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which summarizes states’ ballot collection laws on its website, ncsl.org. Thirty-one states “explicitly permit someone to return an absentee/mail ballot on behalf of a voter,” it says, while 18 states (including Hawaii), Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C., are not so specific. In some of the latter, absentee/mail ballot collection is generally accepted (as in Hawaii), while in others it may not be. Only Alabama specifies that an absentee ballot must be returned by the voter, it says.
You are one of several readers this week asking about this, all of whom mentioned watching “60 Minutes.” An episode of the CBS News series that aired Sunday said that in Arizona it is “against state law to deposit a ballot that isn’t yours or your family’s,” according to a transcript of the segment, 808ne.ws/60Minutes.
However, Arizona law is broader than that, allowing a family member, household member or caregiver to return an absentee or mail ballot on behalf of a voter, according to the NCSL, which cited Arizona Revised Statutes 16-1005, azleg.gov/ars/16/01005.htm.
You mentioned the ballot drop box at Honolulu Hale, and there are numerous other drop boxes available across Oahu and the rest of the state. See elections.hawaii.gov for the locations of voter service centers and ballot drop boxes statewide. Voted ballots must be received by the county elections division by 7 p.m. Tuesday (Election Day) to be counted.
Auwe
Auwe to the woman who yelled at me, “You so skinny, if you lose more weight you going disappear!” I guess she didn’t know that I had undergone nine weeks of radiation therapy for cancer. — Hank, Pearl City
Mahalo
I was going to Las Vegas on Oct. 27, and I accidentally dropped my cellphone at the check-in curb without noticing it. I thought I had left it in my daughter’s car, so I tried calling her. Finally, I gave up and went to Hawaiian Airlines’ lounge. I told my friend to call my phone, to see if anyone answers. A security person answered and said someone picked it up and left it at their counter. I would like to sincerely thank that person. Without the phone I would have been lost. All my contacts are in that phone. Thanks again, you saved my trip from being a disaster. — Appreciative senior
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
