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There were no lines at Honolulu Hale at mid-morning today, as a steady stream of residents walked in or drove by to either drop off their ballots or vote in person.
Voting opened at 7 a.m. for those who wanted to do it in-person at either Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale on Oahu for the last day of the Hawaii primary today, and will be available through 7 p.m.
“At 7 a.m., we had a short line,” said Honolulu City Clerk Glenn Takahashi, “but that quickly disappeared when we opened.”
As of 11 a.m., Takahashi estimated 850 had voted in person at both the Honolulu and Kapolei sites.
Others were either walking by or taking advantage of the drive-thru to drop off their ballots in the yellow dropbox in front of Honolulu Hale, one of 15 locations available throughout Oahu.
The ballots can also be dropped off until 7 p.m. today.
Many, like Cathy Schwarz of Nuuanu, were dropping off their ballots on the last day simply because they have been busy.
Schwarz said she’s been “busy with life” as she works multiple jobs, helps her parents, and cares for a disabled husband.
“So I have a lot on my plate,” she said as she walked up to the dropbox at Honolulu Hale with her ballot. “That’s why it’s important to get someone in there who’s willing to help people with cost of living and stop selling to foreign investors and tourists who live here two months out of the year.”
Antonia Agbannawag of Kakaako walked over with her dog, Tiger, to drop off her ballot.
She likes the ability to fill out a ballot in the comfort of home, but wanted to physically walk over to Honolulu Hale to drop it off today.
“I love the fanfare of primary day,” she said. “I love filling out my ballot just before making the best decision that we can and then coming to the polls.”
This is a pivotal year, she said, and she wanted to wait until the last moment to make her decision.
“We have a new governor and lieutenant governor,” she said. “Obviously, we’ll find out who’s running together for the general but also nearly every seat for House and Senate is up for grabs and it could be a clean slate.”
For others, like Margaret and Brad Hovas of Manoa, it was important to vote in person to ensure their votes were properly counted.
“Basically, we don’t trust mail-in voting,” said Brad Hovas, saying he did not support the state’s decision to do so. “In a democracy, if an individual feels that they have the ability to participate, it becomes something of a specific event in their life. They want to vote in person.”
Margaret Hovas said additionally that voting in person brings a community together.
“Growing up, I would always go with my mom or my dad to vote and we knew all the ladies and we talked to them all, and they lived in our neighborhoods,” she said. “And so we used to go to Noelani and sometimes we’d see neighbors we hadn’t seen in a while and I miss that. And I think that keeps us together as a community. We can see and interact with our neighbors to do what we consider a right, a privilege, and a duty to our country.”
Those who voted in person said all went smoothly, and overall that it was an easy-in and easy-out process without long lines or waits.
David Kihara of Honolulu said after walking over, it only took about 10 minutes to vote in person. He said it was satisfying to witness his ballot go through the machine personally, and to know it was counted.
“It’s like a reinforcement of what I personally believe,” he said. “After what happened in the 2020 election, for my vote, I wanted to see it go through.”
Likewise, Michelle Stuebben, who usually votes absentee, said she and her husband drove to Honolulu Hale from Marine Corps Base Hawaii to cast their votes in person.
“This is my first time showing up in person, and it was important to me to show up in person,” she said. “There’s some history in ballots being dropped off in boxes and then you don’t really know whose hands they’re in after that. Just trying to protect election integrity was really important to me.”
Go to https://staradvertiser.com/election for updates, resources and live results from today’s Hawaii Primary Election.
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