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Kokua Line

Absentee ballots ought to arrive during this week

By June Watanabe

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 13, 2008

(Page 1 of 2) | Single Page View

Question: Do you have any idea when we'll get our absentee ballots for the general election?

Answer: Voters who requested absentee ballots for the general election should start receiving them this week.

The city clerk's office received more than 70,000 requests for absentee ballots following the Sept. 20 primary election, said Clerk Denise DeCosta.

After the primary, ballots had to be printed, and absentee ballot packets assembled and mailed.

"Requesters will likely not receive the ballots until (this) week, depending on where they live on the island," DeCosta said. The packets will continue to be assembled and mailed during the next few weeks.

As set by state law, Hawaii, "unfortunately," has the second-tightest election calendar among the states, DeCosta said. Only Florida provides less time between the primary and general elections.

Q: I voted absentee in the primary. I read your column about the permanent absentee voter program being delayed. Does this mean that I won't get my absentee ballot for the general election?

A: The permanent absentee voter program, which involves establishing a permanent list of voters who want to receive their ballots through the mail, is delayed, as we explained in the Oct. 7 "Kokua Line."

But that delay or the program itself has no effect on this year's elections or on voters who have requested mail-in absentee ballots, DeCosta said.

If you requested a ballot for both the primary and general elections, you also will receive a ballot for the general election. If you indicated on your application that you only wanted to vote absentee for the primary, then you'd have to reapply for an absentee mail ballot for the general election.

DeCosta urged voters to submit applications to the city clerk's office as soon as possible, even though the deadline is Oct. 28.

"We are processing thousands of requests and want to avoid a last-minute flood of applications that would need to be processed just before the general election," she said.

Q: I dropped off my application for absentee voting at the city clerk's office last week. The clerk told me she would accept it this time, but next time I had to mail it. I work at City Hall so thought I'd save a stamp. Is this something new?

A: No, you are allowed to drop off your application in person.

"It was probably a misunderstanding of the question," DeCosta said.

If you also were dropping off an application on behalf of someone else, then you would have been told that the application should have been mailed directly from the voter, per state law, she said.

Any person registered to vote may request an absentee ballot.

For those not registered, it's too late to do so now for this year's general election. The deadline for registering for the Nov. 4 general election was last Monday.

The deadline for requesting an absentee mail ballot is Oct. 28.

Applications for mail-in absentee ballots may be picked up at all satellite city halls, U.S. post offices and public libraries.

Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or e-mail kokualine@starbulletin.com.

Question: Do you have any idea when we'll get our absentee ballots for the general election?

Answer: Voters who requested absentee ballots for the general election should start receiving them this week.

The city clerk's office received more than 70,000 requests for absentee ballots following the Sept. 20 primary election, said Clerk Denise DeCosta.

After the primary, ballots had to be printed, and absentee ballot packets assembled and mailed.

"Requesters will likely not receive the ballots until (this) week, depending on where they live on the island," DeCosta said. The packets will continue to be assembled and mailed during the next few weeks.

As set by state law, Hawaii, "unfortunately," has the second-tightest election calendar among the states, DeCosta said. Only Florida provides less time between the primary and general elections.

Q: I voted absentee in the primary. I read your column about the permanent absentee voter program being delayed. Does this mean that I won't get my absentee ballot for the general election?

A: The permanent absentee voter program, which involves establishing a permanent list of voters who want to receive their ballots through the mail, is delayed, as we explained in the Oct. 7 "Kokua Line."

But that delay or the program itself has no effect on this year's elections or on voters who have requested mail-in absentee ballots, DeCosta said.

If you requested a ballot for both the primary and general elections, you also will receive a ballot for the general election. If you indicated on your application that you only wanted to vote absentee for the primary, then you'd have to reapply for an absentee mail ballot for the general election.

DeCosta urged voters to submit applications to the city clerk's office as soon as possible, even though the deadline is Oct. 28.

"We are processing thousands of requests and want to avoid a last-minute flood of applications that would need to be processed just before the general election," she said.

Q: I dropped off my application for absentee voting at the city clerk's office last week. The clerk told me she would accept it this time, but next time I had to mail it. I work at City Hall so thought I'd save a stamp. Is this something new?

A: No, you are allowed to drop off your application in person.

"It was probably a misunderstanding of the question," DeCosta said.

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