Kauai led the state in voter turnout

LIHUE — Kauai had the highest rate of voter turnout with 58.1 percent in Tuesday’s general election.

All told, Kauai saw 25,819 people cast ballots for races that included the mayor’s office, won by Councilman Derek Kawakami, and all seven seats on the Kauai County Council.

It was a busy day, with 262 filling out registration paperwork Tuesday, then waiting a few minutes for approval to vote.

Turnout in Hawaii County was among the lowest in its history as well as the lowest of any county in the state this year.

Between absentee and in-person votes throughout the Big Island’s precincts, only 51.5 percent of the county’s 115,406 registered voters took part in the general election. Maui and Honolulu recorded turnout rates of 52.2 and 52.5 percent, respectively.

Statewide participation at the polls was markedly down for Tuesday’s election. The state Office of Elections reported a statewide total turnout of 52.6 percent, down about six points from the 2016 election.

The 2016 presidential election, according to state data, brought out 58.4 percent of the state’s registered voters compared to 61.9 percent in 2012.

The trend reflects a steady drop in voter participation at the polls. While turnout rates in midterms are consistently lower than those in presidential elections, recent data show fewer people are casting their votes from midterm to midterm and presidential election to presidential election. And officials aren’t certain why.

“I wish I knew,” said Pat Nakamoto, Hawaii County elections program administrator. “I would do something about it.”

Kauai’s Elections Divisions said in an email that workers “cannot speculate on why the numbers are the way they are.”

But many have said Kauai voters came out in strong number because of a contest for the mayor’s office — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. was termed out after 10 years — between Kawakami and Council Chair Mel Rapozo, and the opening of seven seats on the County Council.

A question on whether term limits should be removed for councilmembers was also on the ballot. It was resoundingly defeated with 11,944 no votes, 77.2 percent, and 4,143 yes votes, just 16 percent.

On Kauai, Precinct 14-02, Kilauea School, had the highest percentage of voter turnout at 33.1 percent.

Precinct 15-03, Wilcox Elementary School, had the lowest percentage of voter turnout at 20.1 percent.

One trend Nakamoto has noticed is more people casting absentee and mail-in ballots at much higher rates than those coming to their precincts on Election Day.

This year was also the first to allow Election Day voter registration, which allowed those eligible to register and vote to do so at an early walk-in voting location in their county or at their polling place (as determined by their residential address) on Tuesday.

Nakamoto said many people took that opportunity to register and cast their ballot. While she didn’t have exact figures on how many people registered on Tuesday on the Big Island, it was substantial, she said.

“It kept our control center busy the whole day,” she said.

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Cameron Miculka of West Hawaii Today contributed to this report.