The 2010 election is more than a year away, and already there’s trouble.

Like other state agencies, the Office of Elections is facing a brutal budget crunch. To cope, the office has proposed closing 66 of the 339 voting precincts statewide and may seek to eliminate even more.
In lieu of furloughs, the elections office took an equivalent $113,000 cut. As a result, the agency is also coming up short of funds for this year’s preparations, such as ordering supplies and contracting for election manuals and ballot transportation services, according to elections chief Kevin Cronin.
Squeezing more money from the state budget is not an option — there simply isn’t any, says Budget Director Georgina Kawamura.
Nonetheless, the state has a fundamental obligation to ensure that the elections office runs a reliable and robust election in 2010 and beyond.
Voter education drives will be needed to prepare for longer lines and voter confusion if some precincts are closed. Encouraging more absentee mail-in balloting can help — with proper safeguards against fraud, this option is convenient, cost-effective and takes some pressure off the remaining precincts.
The agency should also seek ways to reduce its printing costs for election manuals — used by election officials, candidates and political parties — by printing fewer of them and moving more of that information exclusively online.
Closing precincts can cut costs by reducing the number of expensive voting machines the agency needs to buy.
This year, the budget for electronic voting machines is $2.8 million; by law the money can’t be spent on anything else, even if the agency gets a winning bid that comes in lower. The Legislature needs to lift that restriction to give the office more flexibility in managing its money.
The 2010 vote will be a critical one. Some of the state’s most important leadership positions — including governor and U.S. Representative — will be up for grabs. So will the entire House of Representatives, and half the Senate. The shenanigans at the Capitol this year, during an unprecedented budget crisis, should make it obvious to voters that who they elect does matter.
Especially these days — with the state in economic turmoil — Hawaii’s abysmal tradition of low voter turnout needs to be reversed.
Not even a budget crisis should interfere with that goal.