What can you expect on Election Day?
Nov 04, 2024
HONOLULU (KHON2) -- From bad weather on Hawaii Island to thousands of ballots still needing signature validation, there is still lots to navigate as Election Day nears, but turnout is already off to a strong start.
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Lots of people across Hawaii have already cast a ballot, around 380,000 as of last count out of 860,000 registered voters.
More than 250,000 folks on Oahu, 60,000-plus on Hawaii Island, more than 45,000 across Maui County and nearly 20,000 on Kauai.
What is open, closed on General Election Day?
With two full days to go, that's a 43% turnout already, which is above the 32% who voted as of the end of the August primary.
"I think that this time, we just have had a lot more people coming into our Voter Service Centers. They're coming early, which is fantastic," expressed Moana Lutey, Maui County Clerk.
If you decide to wait until Tuesday, prepare to be patient.
"Just be prepared for a long wait. We are trying to process people as quickly as we can, but the reality of it is we just have a certain number of staff and a specific number of computers, and we're trying to work through it as quickly as we can, but it's going to be a weight. So bring water, bring snacks, bring sunscreen," Lutey added.
On the Big Island, you might need to bring an umbrella, or better yet, vote with what's left of the time on Monday or get those ballots dropped off.
"I would hate for the weather conditions to impact somebody's ability to vote. We're, in fact, concerned about road closures here, which might impact our ability operationally, to collect from the drop boxes and do everything we need to do on the roads here." said Jon Henricks, Hawaii County Clerk.
At least one Voter Service Center on each main Hawaiian island will be open on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Anyone who is in line by 7 p.m. Tuesday to vote or drop off a ballot will be able to complete the process. Results won't be released until the last voter statewide is done.
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If you were hoping to mail it back, clerks said it's too late to do that safely.
"We've been encouraging people since even Friday of last week to go to a drop box and use one of our drop boxes, and hopefully, it's conveniently located enough for them where it's not too far from wherever they may be," Henricks added.
"Please don't put it in the mailbox. We won't get it in time, and we have to have it by 7 p.m. in order for it to count," said Lutey.
Instead, use any of the various County dropboxes statewide. Each County looks a little different, but those can take ballots all the way up to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
There are still around 3,000 ballots that have missing or mismatched signatures that need to get resolved.
You can check "ballot trax" to make sure your ballot was accepted for processing. Voters with signature issues have until Nov. 13 to fix it.
"We're issuing you a letter. But the best thing to do is just, if you're not sure, or if you don't have, you know, time, or whatever it is, to check your mail and so forth, just come in, come into one of our Voter Service Centers, and we can just cancel the ballot that you had, and you can vote in person," Lutey continued.
Find more Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai news here
After 7 p.m. when all the votes are counted, Hawaii will get the "first printout," which will have all mail-in ballots and dropbox vores that arrived by Nov. 1. The "second printout" will be released around 10:30 p.m., which will include in-person voting and the remaining mail and dropbox.