Voters warned to expect long lines as officials prepare for Election Day rush

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Voters swarmed voting service centers across the state Monday as last-minute ballots were cast in person or dropped off.
Officials are trying not to be swamped by Election Day voters Tuesday.
At Honolulu Hale, lines formed to the drop-box and into the courtyard, where voters filled out applications, picked up ballots and voted between partitions set on folding tables.
On Tuesday, City Clerk Glen Takahashi said the pattern will be reconfigured to make room for about 20 more cubicles, so up to 50 people can be voting at the same time.
Voters wanting to vote in person will be directed through the back of the building, while those in vehicles will be directed to volunteers who will collect and deposit ballots for them.
“We have some history to go upon,” Takahashi said, “because we’re able to look at 2020 and 2022, and then make some adjustments.”
By Friday, Honolulu had collected 270,000 ballots and envelopes, well over 50 percent of those mailed out.
Monday’s rush included voters of all ages, parties and experience.
Isabella Dean, a first-time voter, appeared a little baffled as she looked for the entry door.
“I’m a little nervous,” she said. “I don’t know how the whole process works, but I am excited.”
Honolulu officials are lucky to have the staff and equipment to expand capacity on Election Day. Neighbor islands like Maui and the Big Island aren’t that lucky, so they are warning people to prepare for long lines.
“Bring a hat or an umbrella, some way to give yourself some shade,” said Maui County Clerk Moana Lutey. “Put on your sunscreen, bring water, bring some snacks, and we’ll get through you know, the voting process as quickly as possible.”
Lutey opened a new voting center in Lahaina this year, which served far fewer people than the Wailuku center, but the voters needed more help because of displacement by the Lahaina wildfire disaster.
“They’ve moved a number of times and so forth,” Lutey said, “so we just keep trying to update, and we’ve done that throughout the entire process, but more so lately. We opened on the 31st and we’ve been updating addresses on, I would say, nine out of 10 voters.”
In every county, ballot envelopes are already being processed and checked for accurate signatures against registration databases.
The actual ballots won’t be scanned and votes counted by the state elections division until Tuesday. The first results, including almost all the early voting, likely 90 percent of the votes, will be released after the last vote has been cast.
That could be later than usual, given the predictions of long lines, particularly on Maui.
Unless a voter needs to register, fix a ballot or get a new ballot, officials say there is no reason to come to the elections center Tuesday. Drop boxes deployed on every island will be open until 7 p.m., and voters in line at that hour will still be accommodated.
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