LIHUE — The Kauai County Elections Division and the Kauai Police Department said they are investigating a recently reported case of voter fraud. “This recent event is of great concern to our office,” County Clerk Ricky Watanabe said in a release Tuesday.
LIHUE — The Kauai County Elections Division and the Kauai Police Department said they are investigating a recently reported case of voter fraud.
“This recent event is of great concern to our office,” County Clerk Ricky Watanabe said in a release Tuesday. “We wish to note that the procedures we have in place to process absentee mail ballots were able to alert both the voter and our office of the situation.”
Although it appears to be an isolated case, Watanabe encouraged anyone with information to contact KPD.
Last week, Kapaa resident Brett Woods received a call from the Office of County Clerk, Elections Division saying his ballot was received without the required signature. The only problem was that neither Woods, nor his wife, had received their ballot in the mail.
“I never would have known had they not called me,” he said of the elections division.
The elections division said absentee mail voting procedures are “very stringent” and require that the voter sign the affirmation statement on the back of the ballot return envelope. The voter’s signature is then verified against the corresponding voter’s signature contained on an official document on file. The ballot is only counted if the signatures on the return ballot envelope and document match.
If the voter’s signature is missing or does not match the corresponding voter’s signature, the voter will be contacted to inform the voter of the need to sign or to determine why the signatures do not match, according to a release. If a voter does not sign the affirmation statement or respond to follow-up attempts before the close of polls at 6 p.m. on Election Day, the ballot will not be counted.
“Voter fraud is a very serious offense that is a class C felony, punishable by up to five years imprisonment and up to a $10,000 fine, and we understand the public’s concerns centered on the on-going investigation,” Watanabe said in a release.
In Woods’ case, the envelope was received but not signed.
“I really appreciate all their efforts and that they protect our voting,” Woods said. “Fundamentally, we lose our freedom if people are able to screw with our votes.”
Woods said his main concern was that there could be other victims out there. He compared the feeling he had last week to realizing someone has stolen your wallet.
“You just feel so violated,” he said.
After having their absentee ballots reprinted, Woods and his wife filled them out and dropped them off in person to avoid another similar situation.
For additional information or to check on the status of a ballot or absentee ballot application, call the Office of the County Clerk, Elections Division at 241-4800.
