LIHU‘E — The most powerful instrument ever devised for breaking down and destroying the “terrible walls that imprison men because they are different from other men” is the vote, according to the late former United States President Lyndon Johnson, who
LIHU‘E — The most powerful instrument ever devised for breaking down and destroying the “terrible walls that imprison men because they are different from other men” is the vote, according to the late former United States President Lyndon Johnson, who led the country from 1963 to 1969.
But in the state of Hawai‘i, the “powerful instrument” that Johnson spoke of appears to have been collecting dust lately, as a recent report by CNN points the finger at Hawai‘i as the state with the lowest voter-turnout rate in the nation, with 48.8 percentage of voters living up to their democratic rights.
And the numbers recorded for the county of Kaua‘i is even lower than that. During the last Primary, Kaua‘i voters broke the record for its lowest voter-turnout rate — 39.2 percent — recorded by the state Office of Elections website. If it’s any consolation, Maui County raised the bar, or lowered it depending on perspective, with a 30.6 voter-turnout rate in the last Primary.
“It takes an awful lot to provide election services,” county Elections Administrator Lyndon Yoshioka said. “It would be great if people would take advantage of these services.”
Yoshioka said he would like to see as many voters as possible at polling places Tuesday, taking advantage of the countless hours the staff at the county Office of Elections has put in the last several months to provide a smooth election.
However, the hard numbers may reflect a declining interest in participating in the election process on Kaua‘i.
In the last 22 years, Kaua‘i’s population increased by more than 16,000 residents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 51,177 residents on Kaua‘i in 1990; 58,463 residents in 2000; and 67,091 residents in 2010.
In 2011, the bureau estimated that Kaua‘i’s population increased further to 67,701 residents, with 77.4 percent of them older than 18 years old — which makes them potentially eligible to vote.
Out of the roughly 55,500 adults residing on Kaua‘i, more than 15,000 were not registered to vote in the Primary Election Aug. 11. And out of 39,834 registered voters, only 15,606 cast their ballots in the last Primary.
For the General Election Tuesday, more than 900 additional residents will be able to vote. Yoshioka said the official number of registered voters for the General Election is 40,738.
Primaries, General
The turnout percentage on Kaua‘i in Primary Elections during the 21st century is far bellow from the numbers in the 1990s. In the last 12 years, turnout percentages in the Primaries hovered between 39.2 and 51.2 percent, with the lowest turnout recorded on Aug. 11. In 1996, the turnout for the Primary was 58.9 percent, and in 1998 the turnout was 62.6 percent, according to the state Office of Elections website. There is no data specific to counties prior to 1996 on the website.
Historically, the voter-turnout has always increased from the Primary to the General elections.
But the voter-turnout percentage in the General Elections in the 21st century is also below the numbers in the 1990s.
In 1996, the turnout in the General Election on Kaua‘i was 72.7 percent, and in 1998 it was 73.7 percent. In the last 12 years, the turnout percentage in the General Election has never matched those numbers, and has mostly stayed below them.
In the 2004 General Election, the turnout percentage on Kaua‘i reached 68.7, and this was the highest number of the last 12 years. But that was eight years ago. In the last General Election, held Nov. 2, 2010, the ballots recorded a 57.3 turnout percentage on Kaua‘i, the second-lowest turnout percentage recorded by the county website. The record-lowest turnout percentage at the General Election recorded for Kaua‘i belongs to the 2006 elections, which had a 55.7 turnout percentage.
Election Day
On Saturday, the walk-in election period ended. On Tuesday, absentee ballots which do not reach the county Office of Elections by 6 p.m. will not be counted, according to Yoshioka.
Those who missed the walk-in period can cast their votes on Election Day Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at their designated precinct and polling places.
In the 2010 Primary, the number of absentee ballots on Kaua‘i surpassed the number of precinct turnout for the first time in history, but in the following 2010 General Election, the number of voters at precincts was higher than the number of absentee ballots.
In the Aug. 11 Primary, Kaua‘i and Big Island were the only counties in the state with an absentee-ballot count higher than the precinct count.
Hawai‘i’s population is 1.36 million, with 1.05 million residents older than 18 years old, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the Aug. 11 Primary there were 687,766 registered voters statewide, with a turnout of 290,766 voters, or 42.3 percent. Yoshioka said that for the General Election, there are 705,668 registered voters statewide.
Visit www.kauai.gov/
elections and www.hawaii.gov/elections for more information. A sample ballot is available at elections2.hawaii.gov/ppl/.
Voter turnout 1996-2012
Primary Election,
Aug. 11, 2012
State of Hawai‘i:
• Total registration — 687,766 voters
• Total turnout — 290,766 voters (42.3 percent)
County of Kaua‘i:
• Total registration — 39,834 voters
• Total turnout — 15,606 voters (39.2 percent)
Big Island County:
• Total registration — 101,728 voters
• Total turnout — 43,353 voters (42.6 percent)
City and County of Honolulu:
• Total registration — 461,896 voters
• Total turnout — 206,034 voters (44.6 percent)
Maui County:
• Total registration — 84,042 voters
• Total turnout — 25,702 voters (30.6 percent)
General Election,
Nov. 2, 2010
State of Hawai‘i:
• Total registration — 690,748 voters
• Total turnout — 385,464 voters (55.8 percent)
County of Kaua‘i:
• Total registration — 40,129 voters
• Total turnout — 23,009 voters (57.3 percent)
General Election,
Nov. 4, 2008
County of Kaua‘i
• Total registration — 40,323 voters
• Total turnout — 27,497 voters (68.2 percent)
General Election,
Nov. 7, 2006
County of Kaua‘i:
• Total registration — 38,326 voters
• Total turnout — 21,334 voters (55.7 percent)
General Election,
Nov. 2, 2004
County of Kaua‘i:
• Total registration — 36,685 voters
• Total turnout — 25,187 voters (68.7 percent)
General Election,
Nov. 5, 2002
County of Kaua‘i:
• Total registration — 37,392 voters
• Total turnout — 23,464 voters (62.8 percent)
General Election,
Nov. 7, 2000
County of Kaua‘i:
• Total registration — 34,652 voters
• Total turnout — 22,205 voters (64.1 percent)
General Election,
Nov. 7, 1998
County of Kaua‘i:
• Total registration — 33,063 voters
• Total turnout — 24,366 voters (73.7 percent)
General Election,
Nov. 5, 1996
County of Kaua‘i:
• Total registration — 30,009 voters
• Total turnout — 21,816 voters (72.7 percent)
