Elections fiasco

[csgray]

In spite of having no power, and being told by HELCO not to expect power for up to a month or six weeks in my part of HPP, the thing I am really upset about is the announcing of election results when over 8,000 people in Puna were not allowed to vote.

A woman accosted me at the Pahoa pool after I got a shower there to urge me to tell everyone I know to vote for Lazono since: "Illegan's people can't vote and they are only a few votes apart."

Announcing the results when so many people were denied the right to vote skews the election. The state should have locked up the results in any races these voters are voting on until everyone voted. Not doing so was totally irresponsible and undemocratic.

I seem to remember urging people to vote before the storm hit and being pooh poohed because of course the state and county elections divisions wouldn't screw up the election in the case of Hurricane Iselle hitting the Big Island. Then they closed 2 polling places and announced the results before a sizable number of voters got a chance to vote. Does the elections office even have mailing addresses for HPP voters, or do they think we get mail at our houses?

Carol

[missydog1]

Agree 100%, Carol.
Having people vote when they know exactly how they can affect the race, and one where small numbers matter, is just wrong. I think there was a real failure to think this one through.

I think that by not including the absentee or early walk-in votes from those two precincts in any of the numbers released, they thought that would do something, but there are other precincts in District 4 and they released those counts, which they should not have done.

Then as to the US Senate race, I guess they never thought it would be such a tight race across the state that it would matter how two precincts voted, but that is no excuse. They should not have announced it.

As an afterthought, to follow that strictly they would also not have announced any results in the governor's race, and maybe that influenced them ... and the Lt. Gen. and then there is OHA, and actually it would have caused turmoil in major races, but still.

Maybe they should have postponed the entire election. There were plenty of people unable to vote outside of the two precincts, and they don't get a second chance.

[4antares]

Nobody lost the right to vote. Ballots are being sent out for HPP, the results of affected elections won't be official until they are counted in 21 days, the deadline for returning them so our votes still count. In elections that have already been decided by large margins our votes may not matter (and wouldn't have been determinants anyhow) but in the close local elections results are still to be determined by our participation. Would it have been better to try and get hundreds or thousands of people up Maku'u to vote while they are trying to clear the road to restore power?

life is short. enjoy it

[macuu222]

And since Hanabusa is trailing by 1000 or so votes....if she wants this...she better offer HPP voters something substantial that we've always wanted....or Brian will win this!

[missydog1]

They weren't denied the right to vote, correct. They were given an opportunity to vote with knowledge the other voters did not have, for example the early voters. We have a policy in this country now that returns aren't announced until the polls close, and that's just for the day of. This created a whole second period of campaigning and it's actually more unfair to the voters who voted absentee and early, who voted with less knowledge.

[csgray]

4antares,
I did not suggest: "Would it have been better to try and get hundreds or thousands of people up Maku'u to vote while they are trying to clear the road to restore power?" In fact I urged people to vote early to avoid this fiasco.

I did say results should have been held until everyone got a chance to vote, instead of allowing for last minute politicing like that I encountered when all I wanted was a shower at the Pahoa pool. That Lozano supporter was positively gleeful that HPP hadn't been able to vote because her candidate now had a chance to win.

Carol