LIHUE — Kauai residents have been sounding off via absentee ballots and early walk-in voting. Today, they’ll take to the polls to decide the island’s next mayor, seven-member Kauai County Council and three state representatives, as well as cast their
LIHUE — Kauai residents have been sounding off via absentee ballots and early walk-in voting. Today, they’ll take to the polls to decide the island’s next mayor, seven-member Kauai County Council and three state representatives, as well as cast their vote for candidates running in several key state and federal races.
As of Monday afternoon, the Kauai Elections Division had received 8,223 absentee mail ballots out of the 10,703 that were sent out, according to Elections Administrator Lyndon Yoshioka. A total of 3,384 people participated in early walk-in voting this year, down 13 percent from 3,887 in 2012.
The number of mail-in ballots sent out was a 9 percent increase from the 9,757 that were sent out in 2012.
Polls statewide are open today from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Yoshioka said voters should make sure they know the location of their polling place and be prepared with an acceptable form of identification. He recommends avoiding the morning and evening rushes by voting during the early afternoon, when crowds usually dwindle.
Yoshioka said he expects the first round of results to come in around 8 p.m.
