Some refuse to use their vote

This is the eighth in an occasional series of stories exploring Hawai'i's poor voter turnout and solutions for change.

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Staff Writer

There is a class of adult citizens in the Islands that refuses to vote.

The reasons they give are many: They can't be bothered; they think politics is crooked; they're afraid they'll get jury duty; they don't think their votes will make a difference; they don't know the candidates and issues.

In the 2000 election, of roughly 780,000 eligible voters, 637,349 registered and 371,379 voted. That means nearly 20 percent of those who could register are not registered — enough to change the outcome of many Hawai'i elections.

Some folks find that they simply can't register. Lihu'e accountant Patrick Ibbs said that when he first returned to the island, he was staying with various friends while he sought a house to rent. He tried to register to vote, but was told that until he had a permanent residence, he could not because elections officials could not establish the precinct to which he belonged. Ibbs ultimately found a place, and was able to register for subsequent elections.

Elections officials say that even the homeless, if they have a regular location, should be able to register to vote — even if they live in a van at a beach park.

Voting officials work hard to assign people to the proper district. And it can be a problem, particularly in rural areas where district lines follow streams and random lines on maps. But if there is a way to identify a location, they'll try to do it, said Honolulu elections administrator Glen Takahashi.

"Just say, 'You live in the state? You can vote,' " he said, adding that changing the system in such a way would require legislation.

But while that would clearly simplify the process, it would do nothing to bring in that hardened group of citizens who can legally vote, but refuse to do so.

Former City Councilman Mufi Hannemann, when his campaign for mayor was aborted by Mayor Jeremy Harris' decision to keep the seat, converted his campaign organization into a voter registration engine. His registration tables have been in locations as diverse as cultural celebrations on the Wai'anae coast and shopping complexes such as Victoria Ward Center, Pearlridge, Windward Mall and Mililani Town Center.

Hannemann said the campaign has registered 2,304 voters. But he said it has also failed to register a lot of voters.

"The basic reason is, 'We don't want to go on jury duty.' That's a common one," said Wayne Saito of 'Aiea, one of Hannemann's deputy registrars.

In fact, the courts do use voter records in selecting potential jurors, but they use a lot of other lists as well.

"I registered one lady, and the next day she came and told me she got a jury duty summons. I told her, 'Ma'am, I haven't even turned the paperwork in yet,' " said deputy registrar Danny Auyoung of Makiki.

Said Yoshina: "If you have a driver's license, you're in the jury pool. If you pay taxes, you're in the jury pool."

"There are lots — the younger ones — they say, 'Yeah, I registered.' But they got this smirk on their face, and you know they didn't," Auyoung said.

Deputy registrar Debi Hartmann of Hau'ula said she heard from younger potential voters that they felt ignored by candidates and by the system.

"Older candidates are not trying to reach younger voters. Young people 18 to 30, they felt incredibly disconnected. Nobody tried to talk to them. Nobody tried to involve them," Hartmann said.

Hartmann recalled one "incredibly lovely elderly woman" who wanted to register, but a family member who cared for her talked her out of it. The voting process, the caregiver said, was just too much trouble.

Some voters, Auyoung said, seem proud of their refusal to vote.

"I've seen policemen. I've seen workers in their 30s and 40s. They say they never voted and never will," he said.

The registrars said recurring themes among those refusing to register is that they don't trust politics or that they don't believe their individual votes make a difference.

"It was really fun to remind people how many real close elections we've had in Hawai'i," including tied votes and elections in which the decision was made by a margin of only a handful of votes, Hartmann said.

In the 1998 Democratic Primary Election in the 36th House District, Alex Sonson lost to Roy Takumi by fewer than 10 votes. Elections in the Islands are commonly won by fewer than 100 votes. In the 1998 General Election in the 27th Representative District, Lei Ahu Isa defeated Corrine W.L. Ching by 19 votes. The last tie in the Islands was the 30th Representative District race in 1988 between Romy Cachola and Connie Chun. The tie was broken by a special runoff in the General Election that year.

One group that tends to register and vote at lower rates than the norm is people who have recently moved.

Kaua'i County Councilman Gary Hooser said he once received a petition on an issue before the Council, and out of curiosity checked the names against voter registration files.

"Thirty percent of the people who signed the petition weren't registered. Most of them had recently arrived from the Mainland," Hooser said.

That coincides with Census data that suggests that those who have lived in their present locations fewer than five years vote at a lower rate than longer-term residents.

Elections Chief Yoshina said he gets frustrated when he hears about people who fail to vote because they feel that there is no need for improvement in government.

"Part of the (unregistered) group might be the guys that may be very happy with the situation that exists and they find no need to vote. I get a real twinge when I hear people talk about them," he said.

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