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Everyone knows that more people vote in general elections than in primaries. So why has the City and County of Honolulu allowed all of its races to be decided in August instead of November?

Oahu voters — the 32% of them who bothered to cast primary ballots — got to choose a mayor, a prosecutor and five City Council members this year, but none of those races are even on the general election ballot. They’re already over.

Compare that to Maui, where every county race is always on the general election ballot, no matter what happened in the primary.

Hawaii County, meanwhile, decided a lot in the primary but still offers voters a general election runoff for the offices of mayor and two County Council seats.

And on Kauai, all seven County Council posts won’t be filled until November

Why are Honolulu voters being served nothing-burgers while the ballots offer enticing choices everywhere else? Blame a patchwork of county election laws in which every island employs its own formula for who runs when.

While state laws dictate the election procedures for federal and statewide offices, as well as the Legislature, county charters lay out the rules for mayors, council members and prosecutors.

Oahu’s Blank Slate

Thank goodness for the presidential election, because the rest of the ballot on Hawaii’s most populous island is not too compelling. The congressional races look like the usual slam dunks for the incumbents, and there’s no gubernatorial election this year.

Some legislative races may be competitive, but that only applies to voters in certain districts.

And yes, there are four proposed amendments to the Honolulu Charter. Unfortunately, none would change the election procedures that can result in all the races being decided in the primary.

It’s not always this electorally bleak on Oahu. There were four council races on the 2022 general election ballot. And 2020 offered a November smorgasbord: contested races for mayor, prosecutor and three council posts.

It’s also true that this year has seen a dearth of serious challengers to the incumbents, resulting in Mayor Rick Blangiardi garnering reelection in the primary by receiving a majority of the votes in a four-person race.

Council member Esther Kiaaina did the same in District 3, while Scott Nishimoto snared the majority of votes in a three-person race for the open District 5 race. Council members Andria Tupola, Radiant Cordero and Augie Tulba were unopposed, as was Prosecutor Steve Alm.

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Still, the spells out the election rules that led to this year’s misfortune:

• A two-candidate race would go straight to the general election, but there was none.
• Races with three or more candidates are decided in the primary if someones receives a majority of votes cast.
• Unopposed races are decided in the primary.

Again, more people vote in November, so this is not a good situation if we want a bigger chunk of the electorate deciding who will lead Honolulu. Oahu’s voter turnout was 40.6% in the 2022 primary and 48.9% in the general election. In 2020, it was 52.2% for the primary and 70.1% for the general.

Another reason why the Honolulu Charter should be amended: Things can happen between August and November that might change the mood of the electorate.

This year there’s been a surge of gun violence on the Westside. This should have been a campaign issue, with the mayor, council members and prosecutor pressed to explain their approaches to the problem before residents vote in the general election.

The Other Counties

The wouldn’t need to look far to find a better way, because Maui County has figured this out. Its rules ensure that county races are never decided in the primary.

Unopposed race? Straight to the general.

Two-person contest? Straight to the general.

Three or more candidates? The top two advance to the general, even if one of them receives the majority of all votes cast in the primary.

Thus all nine Maui County Council races are on the November ballot and will be decided by a higher percentage of the electorate (there is no mayor or prosecutor race this year).

With seven members instead of nine, the Kauai County Council is a different beast. All 17 candidates were put into the same primary pot, from which 14 emerged to run in the general election.

All the council posts are at-large positions, so every Kauai voter is presented with a sumptuous November menu of 14 choices and allowed to pick seven.

Hawaii County operates its elections similar to Honolulu, so there’s always the possibility of a general election shutout on the Big Island as well. It’s not getting picked on because this year it has a mayor’s race and two council contests on the November ballot.

But considering that seven of its nine races were decided in the primary, its Charter Commission should consider changes as well.

Council members serve two-year terms in all counties except Honolulu, where they have four-year terms. That’s another reason why Oahu’s races should be settled in November — voters only get one shot at filling these posts every four years.

More Could Be Done Statewide

Plenty of other election reforms are needed in Hawaii, where the advantages of incumbency discourage challenges at all government levels.

Expanding the public financing option for candidates would help enormously, which may be why all those incumbents in the Legislature just haven’t been able to bring themselves to do it.

With its one-party dominance, Hawaii is also a prime candidate for switching to a top-two primary, where everyone gets the same ballot and the top two vote-getters advance to the general regardless of party.

In that world, for instance, the heavyweight Democratic primary battle between House Speaker Scott Saiki and challenger Kim Coco Iwamoto would have been decided by more voters in the general election.

More interesting races bring higher turnouts. But even in a low-interest election season like this one, there’s really no excuse for letting the counties’ nonpartisan contests be decided in August instead of November.