Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi issued a statement on Monday, August 20, saying that Hawaii County’s “volunteers,” those who work on election day and get a stipend of around $85, will be paid extra for their work on Saturday, August 11. Because of the problems experienced in opening Hawaii County’s polling sites on time, and uncertainty over how many sites actually opened late, Governor Neil Abercrombie kept Hawaii Island’s polling places open until 7:30 p.m. instead of the usual 6 p.m. closing time.
When precinct chairs got the call to stay open late, several said they asked about extra pay for the workers and said they were either told “no,” or told the Elections Office did not know. All the precincts did stay open late, with workers staffing the polls.
Kawauchi did not say what the extra pay will be. Given that the pay for the workers is around $85 for 12 hours work, the extra pay per worker could amount to around $10 to $14.
