Registration slow for September primary

Despite one of the most significant elections in state history, Hawai'i residents of voting age are hardly rushing to register.

The registration deadline for the Primary Election is tomorrow. As of a few days ago, registration to vote is up just 5 percent from the 2000 primary, at 661,000 voters.

That figure includes 144,000 voters — 22 percent — who haven't voted recently or aren't responding to mail-out forms from the elections office but are kept on the rolls as part of a federal mandate. Some may have moved or died, but many may be unaware they are at risk of being turned away at the polls if their polling place has changed because they've moved.

"One of the things we found out while getting signatures on petitions is that a lot of people think they're registered, but they're not," said Lauri Clegg, chairwoman of the state's Natural Law Party.

Former City Councilman Mufi Hannemann, whose campaign for mayor was stopped when Mayor Jeremy Harris dropped his own gubernatorial bid and stayed in office, has directed his efforts at registration.

Hannemann's program theme is "For the children. For you. Vote Hawai'i 2002." He said his volunteers suggest that people fill out registration forms even if they believe they are registered, because often they are not.

"Our motto is, 'When in doubt, fill it out,' " Hannemann said.

The Islands had the lowest voter turnout in the nation in 2000, a statistic that helped push Hannemann's efforts — and which he hopes will push voter turnout.

"I'm finding a lot of people are aware of this very disturbing fact," he said.

Registering to vote can be complicated in the Islands because of state regulations and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

Until the law was passed, Hawai'i voters who failed to vote in a primary and accompanying general election were removed from the rolls. Voters who voted regularly stayed on the list. If you missed two elections, you needed to register again.

The federal law created a new category, the fail-safe voter. These people must be kept on the list for at least two election cycles — a primary, general, primary and general election — before they can be removed for not voting or responding to registration queries.

Registered voters in Hawai'i were sent yellow cards from their county or city clerk's office, informing them that they were registered and telling them where to vote.

The card, sent to the address at the time of registration, was not forwardable. If it was delivered, a voter was kept on the list. If it came back to the clerk's office, the registration was placed on the fail-safe list.

The clerk's office followed up with a white card, which is forwardable, asking for an updated address. Voters who responded were put on the regular list. The others stayed on the fail-safe list.

Voters on the fail-safe list can update their registration if they show up at the polls to vote. But they might be sent to a new, correct district to cast a ballot.

"They can expect delays if they didn't update their registration prior," said Glen Takahashi, the City and County of Honolulu elections administrator.

Takahashi does not recommend waiting until election day to update voter registration.

"We take between 4,000 and 5,000 registration-related phone calls on Election Day on O'ahu alone," he said. "People wonder why there's a long line on Election Day. That's one of the reasons why."

The list of fail-safe voters is large in Hawai'i because residents move a lot."Every two years, roughly 10 percent of the voter list will move," Takahashi said.

He anticipates about 90,000 of the 144,000 fail-safe voters will be purged from the list after the General Election. And tens of thousands will be added again after the yellow and white cards go out in 2004.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808)245-3074.