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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 3:22 p.m., Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Neighbor Island voter turnout lagging

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Staff Writer

Island elections appeared to be going smoothly at mid-afternoon, but voter turnout did not appear strong.

"We had a light spike at lunch, and since then it has been relateively steady, but nothing that indicates (turnout) is extraordinary," said Kaua'i County Clerk Peter Nakamura.

Among those who did come to the polls, some were there not so much for issues as because they felt a duty to be there.

"I wanted a say in who gets elected," said Cathy Caycayon of Lihu'e.

Tanya and Chris Gamby brought their young son Zeke to the polls at the Kaua'i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu'e for the first time.

"We told him this is where we vote for people who make the rules. He said, 'You mean like not hitting my sister?'" Chris Gamby said.

The couple said they are concerned about environmental issues, and have been frustrated by candidates who name the issues without clearly stating positions on them.

"It's been hard to get information on the candidates," Tanya Gamby said. "All of them seem to be saying about the same thing — that they are concerned, but not what they believe," Chris Gamby said.

On other Neighbor Islands, Big Island County Clerk Connie Kiriu said election teams had swapped out a malfunctioning voting machine at the E.B. DeSilva school in Hilo. Voting appeared to be steady islandwide, she said.

On Maui, elections chief Shirley Magarifuji said her staff was dealing with expected issues.

"We're just having normal election day stuff" like voters unable to determne where to vote, she said.

Across the state, three aircraft were being used to haul ballots from isolated locations.

A helicopter was hired by state elections officials to bring Ni'ihau's ballots to Kaua'i for counting.

On Maui, one plane was to fly to H'ana Airport to pick up ballots from the H'ana and Ke'abae precincts.

Another plane was to make a triangle flight from Kahului to Lana'i and then to Moloka'i to pick up ballots from those two islands.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.