Hawai'i Island Voters and the Public Deserve Answers

The Hawaiʻi Republican Party submitted a letter to the Elections Commission demanding a full review and explanation of a mishap that occurred on Thursday, October 20th.

2,300 voters on Hawaiʻi Island received a text message that stated “Your [their] General Election ballot has been received, validated, and accepted for counting.” The only problem was, many of these voters had not voted and many had not yet received their mail in ballots. The election officials dismissed the action as an error.

“A systems failure of this magnitude is caused by one of two things: human error or negligence. Whichever it is, it's just one more reason why many Hawaiʻi voters have lost faith in mail-in voting,” stated East Hawaiʻi County Chair Kahiolani Papalimu.

The Hawaiʻi Republican Party, led by the Hawaiʻi Island County Chairs, requested this issue be added to the next Elections Commission meeting agenda. “Amidst recent observations of vulnerabilities in the system for voter fraud here in Hawaiʻi, this “error” should be thoroughly investigated and process improvements should be communicated to the public,” West Hawaiʻi County Chair Dalene McCormick stated. 

This incident was first covered Friday, October 21, 2022 by Hawaii News Now (HNN). The HNN report also included testimony of a gentleman who received two additional ballots, one for his brother and one for his father. Neither registered to vote. “Reports such as these point to a flawed system of voting that leaves Hawaii voters skeptical and angry,” said Lynn Finnegan, Hawaii Republican Party State Chair. 

“We need to change our election law again. Until we can have a better handle on cleaning up our voter lists and making available more in-person options to vote, the State of Hawaiʻi should not be conducting all-mail ballot elections,” said Chair Finnegan.

The Hawaiʻi Republican Party stands for Hawaiʻiʻs people and for their voices to be heard and for accountability of government. Finnegan added, “We stand by the mantra of making it easier to vote and harder to cheat.”

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