Republicans ahead of their time (zone)

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Thousands of Hawai'i residents received early-morning calls yesterday from a phone bank hired by the Indiana Republican Party urging them to vote GOP.

The calls were meant for Indiana voters and had nothing to do with Hawai'i Republicans or gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle, said Lingle's campaign manager Bob Awana.

Throughout the day, Lingle's campaign headquarters fielded calls from voters — some angry, some confused — asking why Indiana Republicans called them so early.

Awana said a Mainland vendor that Lingle's campaign used earlier this year mixed up voter lists and called about 6,000 Hawai'i voters when it meant to call Indiana residents. Parts of Indiana are six hours ahead of Hawai'i time.

"They acknowledged that after two hours of calls they realized they were on the wrong list," Awana said. The vendor promised to send an apology letter to those who were called yesterday, he said. "They apologized for this error. I said it was pretty outrageous for people in Hawai'i to be getting a call at 5:30 in the morning."

Awana said the campaign won't do business with the vendor again.

"We're very sorry that this happened," he said. "It won't again."