LIHU'E, Kaua'i — County Clerk Peter Nakamura is expected to decide today whether Kaua'i's mayor's race is over, or whether the top two candidates in Saturday's election must campaign on to the Nov. 7 general election.

Mayor Bryan Baptiste collected slightly more than half of the ballots in which voters made a valid choice for mayor. But if blank ballots and those in which voters selected more than one candidate are included, he didn't make the 50 percent. It's a key decision because a candidate with a majority of votes in the primary wins outright and doesn't need to engage in a runoff election.

Baptiste and former Councilman Jesse Fukushima, who received a little less than a third of the votes for mayor, each say they are prepared to continue campaigning if they need to. And Fukushima said he could launch a challenge if the decision is to award Baptiste the victory.

State elections official Rex Quidilla said candidates have through Friday — six days after the election — to challenge the election results through an appeal to the Hawai'i Supreme Court. If no challenges are filed, the election results could be certified as early as Saturday. A successful challenge could launch a recount or other remedy the court orders.

If Fukushima decides to appeal Nakamura's findings on how to count blank and spoiled ballots, that would also involve a court appeal of the county decision.

In either case, state elections officials are anxious because they face a printing deadline.

"We need to start finalizing the ballots for the general election," Quidilla said.

The Kaua'i situation would not be an issue in any other county — because other counties either have different language in their charters or, in the case of Honolulu, resolved this issue in a prior election.

The charters of the four counties use slightly different language on the election of candidates in nonpartisan mayoral races.

Maui and the Big Island have the clearest language.

On Maui, the top two candidates in the primary election go on to the general election, regardless of how many votes the top candidate gets.

The Big Island specifically cites the issue of blank ballots and those with "over" votes (voting for more than one candidate): "any candidate for mayor ... receiving a majority of all votes validly cast for candidates for that office, excluding blank and spoiled ballots, shall be deemed elected."

Honolulu and Kaua'i charters don't discuss unmarked or improperly marked ballots.

The Honolulu charter says, "Any candidate receiving a majority of the votes cast for that office shall be deemed elected."

Kaua'i's says, "Any candidate receiving a majority of the votes cast for that office shall be elected."

But Honolulu clarified its rules in 2000, when then-Mayor Jeremy Harris led the ticket in the multicandidate primary. He had more than half the vote if blank ballots were excluded and less than half if they were included. Then-City Clerk Genny Wong ruled that blank and spoiled ballots don't count, and Harris was elected without a runoff.

All the state's county-level elections are officially nonpartisan, but partisan politics often play a part. Many Kaua'i voters know that the two leading candidates have different political philosophies. Baptiste is a Republican; Fukushima is a longtime Democrat.

The Kaua'i County Democratic Party has come to Fukushima's assistance.

Party chairman Martin Rice, in an e-mailed press release yesterday, said his research suggests that a runoff is mandatory.

" 'Votes cast' includes all votes, blank or otherwise, whereas 'votes tallied' concerns only those who actually marked a ballot," Rice said. "It is in the public interest of Kaua'i's citizenry to have a final, concise contest between the two candidates within the framework of the general election."

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.