Published Again!

For the benefit of those of you who don't receive the West Hawaii Today regularly, I thought I share my latest effort, which appeared in today's paper.  I know these issues may not have much relevance elsewhere but am dying to enhance my notoriety. 

Dear Editor:

As the elections near, I’ve been contemplating two areas that ought to be addressed before the next election cycle:

First, no one should be declared elected to office after the primary election unless unopposed. In non-partisan races, the top two contenders should move up to the general election, regardless of whether one received more than 50% of the votes in the primary. During the last two presidential elections, two-thirds of Hawaii county voters participated in the general election, but only about 40% voted in the primary election. (In the non-presidential election years, the difference was a little less, but still substantial – about 40% in the primary election, and about 53% in the general.) So a candidate could win in the primary with slightly over half of the votes cast, and lose by a substantial margin in the general election. Why would we want to elect our county leaders in the election with the smaller turnout? Moreover, many voters don’t tune in to the election issues until after the primaries. Hence, it is reasonable to assume the voters would be better informed in November than in August.

Second, recent news reports have indicated that we now have one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the country. Maybe one reason is that it appears the elections office never purges the voter rolls. When my wife and I first registered to vote in the late ‘70s, we were told that if we failed to vote in two consecutive election cycles, our names would be removed from the voter rolls, and we would have to reregister if we wanted to vote again. If that were the policy then, it hasn’t been in many years. Two of my children who registered to vote when they were 18 remain on the voter rolls, even though they moved away and haven’t voted here in years – in one case, for seven consecutive election cycles. I can’t help but wonder how many others listed as registered voters have moved away or died. Obviously, our numbers would look better if the rolls were purged of those no longer here. In addition, the possibility for voter fraud would be reduced. It would be very easy for me to apply for absentee ballots for my two absent children and vote for them each election cycle. We need a reasonable policy in Hawaii for regularly purging the voter rolls.

Finally, a curiosity: I’ve been following the partisan rhetoric condemning the new voter ID laws on the mainland with interest. We’ve had a voter ID law in Hawaii since I first arrived over 30 years ago. Now, if the letters to the editor are to be believed, we are the state in which it is most difficult to obtain a driver’s license. Personally, I don’t have any problem with requiring voters to establish they are who they claim to be. But I do wonder why there has been no outrage expressed either locally or nationally over our voter ID law? Could it be because we have reliably voted Democratic for decades? Of course, it would be nice if our rule-makers would simply apply a little common sense and simplify the requirements for a driver’s license.

Bill Hastings

P.S.  Rob and Whit, since you're still registered here, let me know if you'd like an absentee ballot -- or if you'd prefer I just cast a vote on your behalf.