Updated at 10:21 a.m., Tuesday, November 7, 2006
At 'Aina Haina, turnout good but no ink in pens
Advertiser Staff
Voter turnout at typically busy 'Aina Haina cafeteria was good this morning, but not as brisk as in years past, when the precinct usually exceeds statewide turnout figures by 15 to 20 percent, said precinct chairwoman Linda Starr.About 20 people were waiting when she opened her doors — about twice as many as she saw in the September primary, but far short of the line she saw during the last gubernatorial election.
"We did have technical difficulties," she said. "They issued us pens that didn't have ink in them. We got more pens and we checked them to see if they had ink."
Starr's volunteers discovered the pen problem 15 minutes into voting today as people came out of their booths complaining that they had to use their own pens.
Starr had 25 booths at Aina Haina, but only 10 were filled at 8:30 a.m. She has only one electronic voting machine, and people lined up and three at a time to use it.
Ballot information used by volunteers also did not match training material they received, confusing them.
But Starr was fully stuffed, shy by only one worker.
Cindy Waters was the 181st voter today.
"It was very, very easy but the charter amendments got overwhelming and I read things about them," she said.
