Hawai`i has one of the most modern elections system: early voting, automatic and online voter registration, Election Day voter registration, ballot tracking, and voting by mail and in-person. Yet, similar to conditions elsewhere, there is voter mistrust, election challenges, threats being made against election officials, and calls to undo Hawai’i’s election progress and return to one-day voting on paper ballots. What has been the impact on our elections by the transition to mail-in voting? What factors determine the number and locations of drop boxes? How secure and accessible are our elections? How can citizens and League members support our Hawai’i County election officials or help to secure our elections?
Watch a talk by Jon Henricks, Hawai`i County Clerk, on “Voting in the New Era of Elections by Mail.” Mr. Henricks was the guest speaker at the General Meeting of the League of Women Voters of Hawai`i County on November 5th, 2022, held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Puna.
SPEAKER BIO
Mr. Jon Henricks was born in Hilo, attended Ernest Bowen de Silva Elementary School, Hilo Intermediate School, and graduated from Hilo High School in 1991. Jon earned an associate degree from Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. He completed his education at Indiana University - Purdue University at Indianapolis, earning a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Indiana University. Jon started at the Office of the County Clerk and Hawai‘i County Council as a legislative assistant to Council Member Fred Holshcuh, M.D. He then went on to work as a Legislative Specialist in the Legislative Research Branch from 2007 through 2014 and served as Deputy County Clerk from 2014 through 2018.
SUMMARY
Mr. Henricks briefly described himself as a Hilo boy who studied journalism at Indiana University, and came back to become Deputy County Clerk (2014-2018), and then County Clerk. He went on to explain that after Bill 136 passed in 2019, Hawai’i switched to voting by mail in 2020. All registered voters now receive ballots to fill out, sign and return. This new procedure worked well during COVID, although the change was mandated before COVID. We have now been through two primaries and one general election with mail in, and will be soon doing the second general next week. Turnout was very high in 2020, in part because of who was running, but perhaps also because of increased access.
Mail-in voting does have some downsides: the loss of a ritual community experience for the voters, and the loss of election “day” for the candidates. However, mail-in voting costs far less, voter turnout is high, and people appreciate the convenience. The Elections Office will continue to provide some voting centers for voters with special needs and/or same-day registration.
A significant portion of the presentation involved Mr. Henricks answering many questions from the audience. In doing so he made it clear he sees no evidence of voter fraud, that vote counting is done by trained county employees, and that observers of the process come from both major parties. Audience questions also addressed ballots mailed to dead people, undeliverable ballots, and the use of the Hart system which submits the vote numbers (without voter identification) to the State Elections Office in Honolulu. He concluded by requesting that any observed voting abnormalities be reported to the County Clerk.
There was concluding applause from the audience after Ruth Robison expressed praise for the professional, scrupulous, non-partisan, methodical way elections have been handled by the office of the County Clerk.
HAWAII COUNTY OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, ELECTIONS DIVISION
https://www.elections.hawaiicounty.gov/home-elections
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF HAWAI`I COUNTY
https://my.lwv.org/hawaii/hawaii-county
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.