The second of three scheduled elections workshops aimed at assisting Hawaii County’s Elections Office team is today, Thursday, September 27, on Maui. The County Clerks from the counties of Kaua’i, Maui, and City and County of Honolulu, along with State Elections Chief Scott Nago, set up the workshops after Hawaii County had some August 11, Primary Day snafus that resulted in polls opening late and in voters being turned away from the polls.
Maui County Clerk Jeff Kuwada and his Elections Administrator have set up a comprehensive day of review. Activities include a tour of the warehouse with demonstrations and descriptions of staging and packing the precinct cans and supply cans, a review of election eve and election morning deployment, a tour of the control center and the counting center. The agenda includes a thorough review of voter registration, absentee ballots both by mail and via walk in, election day preparation, the control center and delivery and collection activities, election day activities, and the timelines for an election year and an off-election year,
The first workshop was on Kaua’i on Monday, September 10. Deputy County Clerk Steve Lopez, who previously has had minimal election office involvement, attended along with three other staffers. The day had an agenda similar to today’s, including a detailed look at how the elections division is organized, staffing and hiring during an election year and off-election year, tours, and a complete review of how Kaua’i County manages issues.
The final workshop will be October 4 at the City and County of Honolulu. As the City and County of Honolulu manages several of the activities on behalf of the other counties–such as collecting the data from the counties and having the yellow voter cards printed and mailed-their setup will be a little different from the other counties. Clerk Kuwada of Maui has said the Kaua’i and Maui operations would be more similar to what Hawaii County needs to do.
County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi did not attend the Kaua’i workshop but is slated to attend today’s workshop, with around six staffers. She has also said she’ll attend the final workshop on October 4.
