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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, February 5, 2007

Bills aim to boost Isle voter turnout

 •  Legislature 2007
Read up on the latest happenings in the Legislature, find out how to contact your lawmakers, and explore other resources.

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

With an eye on Hawai'i's dismal voter participation rate, state elections officials want to make voter registration and early mail-in voting more convenient.

Eligible adults would be allowed to register and vote on the same day as an election — instead of signing up at least 30 days in advance — under a bill submitted to the Legislature by the Office of Elections.

A second bill would allow voters to sign up once to vote by mail in all future elections, rather than request mail ballots separately each time.

"Overall, the approach is to continue to look forward and to keep the elections process accessible to voters," said state voter services coordinator Rex Quidilla.

But he cautioned that there is no assumption that these measures alone would reverse the low turnout trend.

"Voter turnout is largely driven by the contests, the candidates, and the various causes and issues that may be on people's minds in any given election," Quidilla said. "But certainly, we want to keep those avenues open, should a voter choose to participate."

Turnout in the November general election was at the lowest percentage in state history, with nearly half the state's registered voters declining to participate. And many more who were eligible to vote never bothered to register.

But at the same time, voting by mail with absentee ballots has becoming increasingly popular. More than one in every three voters who took part in last year's primary and general elections cast absentee ballots, mostly by mail.

And six out of every 10 absentee voters in the last election had voted absentee in a previous election.

The League of Women Voters of Hawai'i strongly supports election day registration but has taken no position on permanent absentee voting, said Jean Aoki, the league's legislative chairwoman.

Many potential voters become most interested in politics when election day is very near, she noted.

Hawai'i and most other states require voters to register at least one month before an election. Registering is quick and easy here, but some potential voters still miss the deadline every time.

"Generally, the debate becomes more heated at the end, and that makes them want to get involved," Aoki said. "Once they vote, it may lead to a kind of habit that most of us have, of wanting to vote in every election."

Low voter turnout can have a big impact on elections because it tends to benefit incumbent candidates who have established support bases, she noted. Challengers often must work much harder to draw new supporters to the polls.

Same-day registration and mail-in voting are popular in a few states that have much higher voter turnout rates than Hawai'i.

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine and New Hampshire allow residents to register and vote on the same day. North Dakota is the only state with no voter registration requirement, and it had the sixth-highest turnout rate in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But election day registration doesn't necessarily ensure high turnout. Two additional states that allow it — Wyoming and Idaho — ranked 19th and 41st in voter turnout in 2004, according to the Census Bureau.

Honolulu elections administrator Glen Takahashi said making voter registration more accessible is generally a good idea. But allowing it on election day would require careful planning to prevent fraud and logistical problems, he said.

Allowing permanent absentee voting could also pose some challenges, such as maintaining an accurate voter list, Takahashi said.

Oregon is the only state that votes entirely by mail. Oregon had high turnout before mail-voting was adopted there in 1998, and the rate has steadily increased since then. Oregon had the nation's third-highest turnout rate in 2004, according to the Census Bureau.

The bills introduced in Hawai'i are similar to others that stalled in prior years.

"These are not new ideas," Quidilla said. "We've repeatedly introduced these measures. We're competing with a whole lot of other measures out there for the Legislature's attention. So we understand that you don't see these things just happen overnight."

Bills for each idea have been introduced in both the House and Senate. The House registration bill is slated for its first hearing tomorrow, while the absentee measure has no hearing date yet.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.