Absentee Ballots Confusing on Their Face
The absentee ballots that began arriving last week in Hawaii mailboxes are a bit confusing. They are definitely undemocratic.
Let’s begin with the confusion, which begins with the ballot’s three instructions.
(By the way, there are no less than four separate sets of instructions that come with the absentee ballot — the three instructions on the ballot itself, six instructions on the “Fold and Tear Here” stub at the bottom of the ballot, a single-page instruction sheet and five instructions on the yellow Secret Ballot Envelope.)
Instruction 1 says, “You must select one political party ballot or nonpartisan ballot below.”
The instruction appears intended to direct voters to a section halfway down the ballot on the left-hand side that reads, “Select A Party.”
Problem is, Hawaii has a Democratic, Republican, Green, Libertarian and Free Energy party; it does not have a “Nonpartisan” party, though this section’s layout suggests that such a party exists.
The confusion continues under Instruction 2 and in other places on the ballot.
Given that more than 40 percent of state voters are expected to cast their vote before the primary election day, Sept. 18, according to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser — and that requests for absentee ballots on Oahu are up over 2008 — having a ballot that’s easy to navigate (and difficult to invalidate) would seem desirable.
But the primary ballot is befuddling.
Instruction 2, for example, reads: “Vote only for candidates of the party you selected. Votes for another party’s candidates will not be counted.”
That makes sense — if you selected the Republican Party box as instructed in Instruction 1, for example, it seems obvious that you plan to vote Republican.
Problem is, the “Republican Party Ballot (R)” is on the back side of the ballot, not the front, where ballot sections for Democrats, Greens and Libertarians are located — and where the Democratic Party section dominates.
People aren’t stupid. Republican voters are bound to flip the ballot over and find their favored candidates — as well as the Green, Free Energy and previously mentioned Nonpartisan (uppercase) ballot.
They’ll also find a section for county races and Board of Education races, located under a section titled “Special Nonpartisan Offices Ballot (NS).”
But that leads to yet another puzzlement.
Instruction 3 says, “Remember to vote for the Special Nonpartisan offices on the back.”
But which one?
The Nonpartisan Ballot (N)?
The Special Nonpartisan Offices Ballot (NS)?
Or the county ballot sections, which are nonpartisan contests?
Potential For Spoiled Ballots
The primary perplexity is getting noticed. Civil Beat received this comment from a member:
“People inadvertently checking off the non-partisan primary box would disqualify themselves from voting in the big Democratic primary for governor (as well as the smaller Republican primary). I think this primary ballot matter has come up before, but it seems the least the elections officials could do is a big public announcement explaining that the partisan and non-partisan primary ballots are separate from the non-partisan elections for the city and school board elections. (The news media might want to do their own clarifying efforts.)”
The member continued: “I’ve been following the elections, and I found myself momentarily bewildered, and wondered how others paying less attention would figure out the distinction between the non-partisan primary ballot and the non-partisan elections. Thanks for considering. Aloha.”
No — aloha to you!
(Note: Civil Beat only examined a ballot for a voter living in Congressional District 1, State Senate District 10 and Housing District 24. Ballots vary for other districts.)
A call Friday to the state’s was not returned.
Maybe election officials were still busy dealing with angry voters living in state Senate District 25 (Kailua, Lanikai, Waimanalo, Hawaii Kai), where 1,600 absentee ballots inadvertently of the candidates running for the seat being vacated by Republican Fred Hemmings.
Corrected ballots have since been distributed.
Available In Tagalog
The State Elections Office’s single-page instruction sheet helpfully points out that the absentee ballot card has two sides, that a desired party might be on the back side of the ballot card, that you can’t vote for more than one party and that there is a Special Nonpartisan Offices ballot.
Best of all, there are reproductions of the front and back side of the ballots on this instruction sheet that feature big arrows and yellow highlights, letting voters know that “Everyone may vote the Special Nonpartisan Offices ballot.”
(Translations of the ballots into Japanese, Ilocano and Chinese are available from the State Office of Elections. Civil Beat was not able to verify that these ballots are easier to follow than the English-language ballots.)
But there is still one more area that is unclear.
Both sides of the ballot state, “Vote Both Sides.”
Unless a voter is going with Libertarians, Greens or Democrats on the front side, however, they will only be selecting candidates from the back side where the Republicans, Free Energies, nonpartisans (lowercase), Special Nonpartisan Offices (uppercase) and nonpartisan (lowercase) county ballots are.
Baffled? Feel instructed up the yin-yang?
Don’t worry. Federal law allows voters to receive voting assistance from “a person of your choice other than your employer, agent of your employer, or agent of your union.”
One-Party Dominance
One more nitpick, but kind of a big one: Hawaii’s primary is considered an open primary, meaning voters don’t have to be registered with a party to vote.
But the primary is also “closed” in the sense that a voter can’t pick, say, a Green running for U.S. Senator, a Free Energy candidate running for governor, a nonpartisan (lowercase) running for lieutenant governor and a Republican running for U.S. Representative.
This is not the fault of the Office of Elections. Lawmakers make these decisions.
The “closed” primary helps ensure the survival of the Hawaii Republican Party and the Democratic Party of Hawaii — i.e., where lawmakers come from, especially the latter party (see Civil Beat’s topic page on One-Party Dominance).
But it’s worth noting that races for county mayors, county councils, the Board of Education and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA candidates will be on the Nov. 2 general election ballot) are nonpartisan (lowercase) contests. Which means voters can choose whomever they please. Democracy!
Vote Early, Not Often
Early voting locations opened last Friday. Residents can vote weekdays and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Sept. 16. The voting sites on Oahu are at Honolulu Hale, Kapolei Hale and Windward Mall.
Other useful voting information was provided in last Sunday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The newspaper’s can be viewed online.
(Oddly, the online guide has a link to the guide’s , which, as of Sunday midday, listed ads from the 2008 general election — Ann Kobayashi wants to be your mayor! — not the 2010 primary. Bet that glitch is fixed by the time you read this article. Capitalism!)
One great feature in the Primary Election Guide is the handy “What You Need To Know To Vote” section in the back. Highly recommended.
One final note: Voted ballots are due by 6 p.m. election day or they will not be counted.
