Absentee ballots need to be mailed quickly

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Absentee voters, check your mailboxes.

Those who got in their request for an absentee ballot by last week's deadline should receive their ballot today or tomorrow, City Clerk Genevieve Wong said.

And if they want the convenience of mailing it back in the postage-paid envelope, they need to turn it around almost immediately to be sure their votes will be counted, she said.

"We have to have it in our hands at 6 p.m. Saturday, when the polls close," said Wong, whose office runs elections on O'ahu. Wong's staff will make their last run to the post office at 5 p.m. on election day, Saturday.

About 4,500 absentee ballot requests from O'ahu voters came in Friday and Saturday.

Voters who want a little more time to make decisions on absentee ballots have a few other options:

• Any registered voter can vote through Thursday at a walk-in absentee polling site on all islands except Lana'i and Ni'ihau. On O'ahu, walk-in sites are at Honolulu Hale, Pearlridge Center, Koko Marina Center and Windward Mall. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., except the Pearlridge site, which opens at 9:30 a.m.
• Completed absentee ballots received by mail also can be dropped off at one of these sites by 4 p.m. Thursday, or at any polling place on Saturday.

The interest in absentee voting continues to rise, Wong said. As of yesterday, about 7,400 walk-in ballots had been received on O'ahu, and that number is expected to double before the walk-in absentee option closes Thursday.

But the mail-in option is the clear favorite. O'ahu voters requested 32,500 mail-in ballots this year, compared to 26,500 two years ago. Historically, the return rate for these ballots is above 85 percent, Wong said.

"We know that once people have voted by mail, they'll do it again," Wong said. "One thing I noticed is that when we had a special election (for City Council District 5) earlier this year, to accommodate those people whose polling places were consolidated, we encouraged them to vote absentee.

"That's the Manoa area, and I see that many requests (for mail-in ballots) now have come in from that area."