Money lacking for voter education

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief

After thousands of ballots were spoiled in the 2000 primary, state elections officials proposed spending extra money next year on voter education. But given the state's budget squeeze, the state elections chief believes he might not get enough money to do the job.

Chief Elections Officer Dwayne Yoshina said he had requested $200,000 for voter education next year, but he has been told already by Gov. Ben Cayetano's administration that he will not get the full amount.

"I don't know what they're going to give us, but all have to take cuts. I'm hoping that we get something," Yoshina said.

Last year, more than 9,300 primary election ballots did not count because voters had chosen candidates in more than one party, which is not allowed under Hawai'i's primary system.

Voters who erred were given a chance to correct the mistake when their ballots were passed through an automated checker, and more than 20,000 voters did, Yoshina said. The 9,300 whose ballots were spoiled apparently refused to fix the error and left polling places without making corrections, elections officials said.

Republican Party Chairwoman Linda Lingle said the cross-party voting demonstrates the need for more voter education.

Cayetano suggested the state return to the practice of printing separate ballots for each party, but Yoshina said that would increase the state's printing costs by millions of dollars.

The Office of Elections asked for $200,000 before the last election to help educate the voters, but lawmakers refused, and Yoshina said the state ended up not spending anything.

Next year, he wants to advertise and mail out materials explaining the voting system along with the new district boundaries caused by reapportionment.

"Because of the changes in the districts and all of that, we've got to educate the voters to know where they go to vote, so hopefully we'll get some money," he said.

One recent survey found that only 40 percent of Hawai'i's voting-age population actually voted last year, the lowest turnout in the nation. Yoshina has said he thinks that statistic is skewed, however, by large numbers of foreigners and military families who cannot vote because they are not state residents.

In any event, Yoshina said he believes responsibility for boosting turnout rests with the parties and the candidates. The money he is seeking would be spent on educating people on how to vote instead of convincing them to go to the polls.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.