Voters pick from 44 candidates
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
Talk about voting early and often — Hawai'i voters trekked to the polls once again yesterday to pick a representative to Congress.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
But this would be the last of four elections since Sept. 21 to decide who would represent Hawai'i in the 2nd Congressional District. The seat had been held by the late Rep. Patsy Mink, who won the Nov. 5 general election posthumously, leading to the extra elections to decide the outcome.
Precinct officials Leona Ching, right, and Marie Nakao wait for voters to arrive at Kane'ohe Elementary School in the election for the 2nd Congressional District.
Voters should know who won by this evening.
The whole process has left many voters scratching their heads. Some considered sorting through the number of candidates running in yesterday's election — 44 — a daunting task in itself.
"Oh yeah, lots of people are talking about the number of candidates in the race," said Fidel Montalvan, voter assistance officer at the Kahuku High and Intermediate School cafeteria polling location. "They're overwhelmed. It's hard enough to choose between three candidates."
Jack Magann, who was holding Democrat Colleen Hanabusa signs near the North Shore corner of Waialua Beach Road and Hale'iwa Road, sensed similar voter angst.
"I usually get excellent responses from people driving by — lots of smiles," said Magann, who held John Mink signs at the same location for the last special election. "But I've been getting grim faces today. You can tell people are struggling with the decision."
Half a mile down the road, at the Hale'iwa Elementary School, Peter Shaternick was having no trouble deciding who would get his vote.
"I had my mind made up before I got here," said Shaternick. "I'm voting for Republican Bob McDermott. I'm conservative. I think the whole country is swinging conservative."
As with the previous special election on Nov. 30 to decide who would complete the last five weeks of Patsy Mink's unexpired term, many voters voiced objections to the more than $1 million price tag, calling the special election a "waste of taxpayer money."
But Mark Fujioka, who also voted at Hale'iwa Elementary, said, "it's the price of democracy. Anytime you have representation, it's worth the money."
A number of precinct officials said yesterday's turnout was far more enthusiastic than the previous special election won by Democrat Ed Case.
"It's been busy," said Debra Gorai, precinct chairwoman at Hau'ula Elementary School. "Last time I was trying to figure out how to amuse my workers. We had a total of 200 voters for the whole day. This time we had 250 by noon. Just when we think it's all over, a swarm of new voters will come in.
"It's been a strange election."
Still, there were polling locations, such as the one at Sunset Beach Elementary, where the turnout was reported as slow but steady throughout the day.
"In an ordinary election day people would be waiting in line," said Peter Elson, precinct chairman at the Kamokila Park Recreation Center in Honokai Hale. "Today, we had to wait a half-hour before the first voter got here."
By law that voter was given the extra responsibility of verifying that the voting box was empty before the lock was attached and the first vote was cast. Similarly, the last voter of the day verifies that all the ballot boxes are secure.
Willie Cadavona, spokesman for the Office of Elections, said ballot boxes from the Neighbor Islands were to be picked up at the Honolulu Airport at around 11:30 last night. Vote counting was to begin this morning.
Cadavona said the name of the successor to Mink for the full two-year term in the 108th Congress should be posted today by 5 p.m. The public can view the results by visiting www.hawaii.gov/elections, he said.
