Live Blog: 2010 Primary Election
We’ll be live blogging today’s election. Get the latest coverage here!
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1:48 a.m. And that’s it for us tonight, folks. See you tomorrow morning…uh, we mean later this morning!
1:45 a.m. And finally, two stories you’ve been waiting for: Our take on the mayoral race and a smart analysis on what tonight’s results mean:
1:00 a.m. Here’s Michael Levine’s summary of the U.S. Congressional races.
12:50 a.m. Yep, we’re still here! Here are some more wrap-ups from tonight’s election.
— Sara Lin
Sunday, Sept. 19, 12:20 a.m. The fun ain’t over yet! We’ve put up some great stories wrapping up the races:
- Abercrombie Rolls Over Hannemann
- Voters Snooze Through Gov Primary, Mayor Race
- Honolulu Prosecutor Race: In With the Old
- Apathy In Board Of Ed Elections
— Sara Lin
11:55 p.m. Even with 240 out of 242 precincts reporting, some races are still too close to call.
The Republican contest for the 2nd Congressional District nomination to challenge Democrat Mazie Hirono had John W. Willoughby with 7,823 votes vs. Ramsay Wharton’s 7,594.
In the Democratic race for House District 4. Faye P. Hanohano had 2,296 votes vs. Anthony Marzi’s 2,183 votes.
The Democratic race for Senate District 25 showed Pohai Ryan with 2,590 votes vs. Chuck Prentiss’ 2,272 and Andrew Jamilla Jr. 2,159 votes. —Sara Lin
11:34 p.m. Caldwell has conceded. His parting words for the crowd: “The fat lady has sung. We couldn’t close the gap…but the good news is we ran an incredible race. For me, it’s not a loss. It’s a growing experience…At the end of the day, this place is all about all of us. And so we need to keep working together, and I plan to do that.” — Sara Lin
11:09 p.m. Final results: 38.7 percent for Carlisle, 34.6 for Caldwell, 18.9 percent for Prevedouros.
Abercrombie 59.4 vs. 37.8 for Hannemann.
11:07 p.m. Mufi says Caldwell lost the mayoral race even though he hasn’t conceded yet.
10:46 p.m. Abercrombie Victory Speech.
— John Hook
Abecrombie and Schatz celebrate with their wives
Video of scene at Abercrombie headquarters after second printout results were announced.
- Thanks to Ian Kitajima for this video.
10:30 p.m. Caldwell says the mayor’s race isn’t over. “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.” He says he’s going to wait till the last printout.
— Nanea Kalani
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster — I was down in the polls by 24 percent a couple of months ago. Now it’s very close. I owe it to the voters to see what happens and what the final count is and go from there. I feel so humbled that so many people turned out and got me to where I am today. I’m still trying to be as hopeful as I can.”
His wife, Donna Tanoue, added: “He really deserves to be mayor.”
While Caldwell isn’t giving up until the numbers force him to do so, Carlisle’s closest supporters — his wife, longtime friend and collegue Jim Fulton — appear relieved by the way things have turned out.
“I’m on my way to get my cigar,” Fulton says with a smirk. “But I’m not going to smoke it yet. Just like I didn’t smoke it in all the others.”
Like so many others, the Carlisle campaign believes in bachi, and there are certain superstitions Carlisle’s supporters hold dear. Mostly, they say, they’ve just been hoping and praying for the outcome they now believe is likely.
“I woke up this morning at 4 a.m. and it was raining,” says Dee Balfour, campaign scheduler. “To me, that is a blessing. So I prayed. And when I prayed, I prayed that everybody — and I meant all the candidates — that this would be a wonderul day for everybody.”
— Nanea Kalani and Adrienne LaFrance
10:20 p.m. Neil Abercrombie takes the microphone. And starts a stemwinder.
“This is a great evening, this the night that we go toward a NEW day in Hawaii! Over 40 years ago, John Anthony Burns told us that we needed to catch a wave. And in 2008, a great wave came from Hawaii and went all across the United States of America with the election of Barack Obama. And now in 2010, a new wave of hope and change is coming to Hawaii and it starts tonight!”
“Mayor Hannemann has said it eloquently and graciously that this election is not about me. It’s not about him. It’s not about the Lt. Gov of Hawaii Duke Aiona. This is about the people of Hawaii and a new vision for Hawaii’s future.”
“We’re going to have a great team. Brian Schatz, Neil Abercrombie and you. There’s going to be a rejuvenation of faith and hope and change. It begins tonight, it begins with you. Brian and I are happy to take that change to everyone.”
10:18 p.m. A royal introduction for Neil Abercrombie: President Barack Obama’s sister Maya Soetoro-Ng.
So you folks did this, what do you think?
“Well this place hasn’t been this wild since my brother’s election. There are many miles left to walk, but I feel confident I feel energized and without further ado my husband and I would like to introduce you to someone who’s heart and imagination and spirit and mind are as immense as his voice.”
— Sara Lin
10:03 p.m. Mufi takes the stage, after Gov. Lingle takes a different stage to cheer on her team of Aiona and Finnegan. She took a shot at the Democrats’ governor campaign, saying it had been focused on individuals rather than issues.
Lingle said: “As you’ve watched, most of the attention up until the primary has been on the other party and their candidates. And as we all watched that primary along with people across the state, we all reached the same conclusion: It wasn’t a campaign of ideas and issues and vision for the future. It merely degraded into a personal contest and ‘You said, he said.’ It’s not about the candidates themselves. It’s about the people in our state.”
Mufi Hannemann gives his concession speech.
Credit: Greg Yamamoto
“Well, gang. This was not exactly the kind of speech I wanted to give tonight, but I’ve always believed that you compete, you try to win, and when you don’t win you’ve got to be the first to congratulate that person or team that beat you. I want you to know that I just had a wonderful conversation with Democratic nominee for governor, Neil Abercrombie. Gail and I told him we wish him the best and we’re going to support him.”
“I really don’t feel, (big pause) depressed at all. I’m disappointed. I’m sad, because so many of you all of you gathered here tonight — and others who are watching on TV, and my family — worked so hard and Gail and I want to say to you thank you very much from the bottom of our hearts.”
“I loved the opportunity of being mayor…I love being in public service and all this means is that the people of Hawaii have spoken and are saying that Mufi, this is not your time — and I abide by that decision and by whatever Heavenly Father has in store for us in the future.”
“Let this not be an evening of sadness. Let this not be an evening of despair. We’ve worked too hard. You have every right to keep your head up, your chin up, and recognize that you’ll live to compete another day. Let’s keep that dream alive for a better Hawaii.”
— Sara Lin
NOTE: Audio is good. Video a bit rough.
9:58 p.m. We were told the second printout would contain results from about 50 percent of polling places, but it’s actually 229 of 242 statewide — around 95 percent. That all but closes the books on a number of races and gives us a closer look at what the final turnout will be.
After the 9:30 p.m. printout, 234,000 votes had been counted, including about 104,000 absentee. Based on earlier projections from Office of Elections, that leaves 15,000 or 20,000 Honolulu absentee votes left to be counted.
Of some 684,000 registered voters, 34 percent had their votes counted in time for the second printout. If the 13 polling places left statewide — seven in Honolulu, six on neighbor islands — had a similar amount of voters to the 229 polling places that have been counted, the total turnout, including absentees, should be around 260,000, or 38 percent of registered voters.
That may or may not eclipse the record-low turnout of 36.9 percent in 2008, but it’ll almost certainly set a new record low for primary election turnout in a gubernatorial election year, which are typically higher than presidential election years. And that’s despite record high absentee turnout. Where was everybody on Saturday? — Michael Levine
9:49 p.m. Close races at this time.
The Republican contest for the 2nd Congressional District nomination to challenge Democrat Mazie Hirono. With 135 of 195 precincts reporting, Willoughby has 6,526 votes vs. 6,188 for Wharton, 36 percent vs. 34.1 percent.
Democratic contest for State Senate District 25. Prentiss has 1,819 votes to 1,732 for Ryan, 29.1 percent vs. 27.7 percent. 9 of 13 precincts reporting.
Democratic contest for District 4 state rep. Hanohano has 2,192 votes vs. 2,098 for Marzi, 47.3 vs. 45.3 percent. 6 of 9 precincts reporting.
In Honolulu City Council District 4 race, Chang leads with 8,338, or 34.5 percent, with 17 of 27 precincts reporting. Turbin has 7,779, or 32 percent.
Maui Mayor. Current Mayor Tavares has 6,273 votes, 25 percent, with 38 of 47 precincts reporting. Arakawa has 6,239, or 24.8 percent.
— Civil Beat
9:46 p.m. Peter Carlisle receives congratulations.
Credit: Brian Tseng
9:45 p.m. Here’s the scene at Civil Beat as we waited for the second printout of results.
Credit: Randy Ching
9:43 p.m. Caldwell’s supporters were very upbeat moments before the second printout was due. A crowd of about three dozen supporters with signs in hand chanted, “Caldwell, Caldwell,” and did a stadium “wave” while watching the lone, small television in the headquarters. Screams and cheers erupted with the latest printout showing opponent Peter Carlisle at 39.1 percent, and Caldwell at 34.8 percent.
Marcus Oshiro, who’s somehow become the unofficial spokesman in Caldwell’s absence, said of the second printout: “This is very good. Right now we’re very much encouraged as we’re closing the gap … I don’t know when he’ll get here, but I’ll be here for him.” — Nanea Kalani
With the next round of results in, the crowd at the Carlisle headquarters is again chanting: “Peter! Peter! Peter!” The former prosecutor is very close to becoming Honolulu’s next mayor, but he’s visibly nervous. — Adrienne LaFrance
9:41 p.m. At Hannemann’s headquarters, the former mayor’s family had all eyes glued to the television as results of the second printout were announced. Silence and a hushed “uh-oh” from his cousin Joyce as they took in the fact that Hannemann still lags behind Abercrombie by 20 points.
“I am an immigrant from Samoa, so I love America and I love things like this,” said T. David Hannemann, Mufi’s uncle. “I’m still confident, and I hope Mufi is successful, but I hold no animosity either way.”
Mazie Hirono is in the Hannemann house now, too. — Katherine Poythress
9:35 pm. Second printout sends crowd at Abercrombie headquarters into nirvana!
The 60 to 38 percent vote means the Democratic primary nomination for governor belongs to the former congressman, and this crowd knows it.
Shouting! Screaming! Jumping! Whistles! Conch shells! Fists raised! Tears flowing! — Chad Blair
Civil Beat’s Chad Blair hard at work at Abercrombie headquarters. 
Credit: John Hook
9:33 p.m. Abercrombie 59.4 vs. 37.8
Carlisle 39.1 vs. Caldwell 34.8 and Prevedouros 18.4
Kaneshiro 40.3 vs. Pacarro 30.6 and Ching 15.0
Here’s a link to complete results.
9:24 p.m. With the second, and perhaps decisive printout from the State Elections Office expected within minutes, Abercrombie’s headquarters are filling up with rapt supporters.
Most seats are taken and a lot of folks are standing, some with that glazed “It’s must be Christmas!” look on their faces. It’s like a family reunion — for hundreds and hundreds.
The crowd is as diverse as Hawaii — name a Census category and it’s likely to be represented here. They await the balding, bearded, 72-year-old malihini haole they have chosen to face Republican Duke Aiona for Hawaii’s governorship. — Chad Blair
9:18 p.m. Inside his campaign headquarters, Peter Carlisle is urging people to stop congratulating him. “Not yet, not yet,” he says with a big grin. He’s smiling but he’s serious, and when asked how he’s doing, there’s only one word he says over and over: “Nervous,” the former prosecutor insists. “Nervous, nervous. Plain and simple. Nervous.”
The DJ is playing Michael Jackson, and kids in Carlisle T-shirts are moonwalking past the speakers. A hint of booze trails some of the adult supporters moving around the headquarters. Others are gathered in semi-circles around TV election coverage. There are about 15 minutes to go before the next results are released but Carlisle supporters show no sign of slowing down their early celebrations. The mood here is jubilant. — Adrienne LaFrance
9:15 p.m. Still no sign of Kirk Caldwell at his headquarters. We spotted a playful impersonator instead.
Credit: Nanea Kalani
9:11 p.m. Colleen Hanabusa talks with Civil Beat about the election. Asked about the impact of a potential Abercrombie victory on her 1st Congressional District race, she said: “I was in Hilo last evening and we have our traditional pre-primary rally. I think more than anything else heading to the general is that we head in unified. We had a commitment from all the lieutenant governor candidates as well as from Mufi and Neil that whoever prevailed, the other would be throwing their support behind them.”
“One of the most important things that you will see with the Democrats is that beginning tomorrow morning we will start our traditional unity events throughout the state. People were bracing for a rather contentious primary, and we knew it would be hard-fought for the two frontrunners for the governor’s race. … We are going to look forward to bringing everyone together, bringing all the support bases together, because it’s only 45 days until the general. … Making sure all that energy is captured and funneled to Democratic candidates in November, that should be the focus of the Democratic Party.”
Asked if Republicans might try to turn out voters by painting both her and Abercrombie as liberal/progressive, Hanabusa said: “I think that the Republicans are going to take each race separately. I don’t think they’ll try to broad-brush us like you see on the mainland.”
“In Hawaii … people really do look at their candidates and do support the individuals as opposed to voting down party lines.”
Asked about the trend on the mainland against Democrats and against incumbents, Hanabusa said: “I think that Hawaii has shown if anything that we are a very special place. We have a very strong sense of ohana (family). The values I think are very dominant here. I’m not sure that just because there’s a national trend that that’s going to be sufficient to make a difference here.” — Michael Levine
9:04 p.m. There’s no question people are celebrating at the Carlisle campaign headquarters.
“It’s like he won already,” one observer says with a smile, as Carlisle twirls his wife in a dance on stage. The couple is drenched in lei, and laughing their way through the dance.
Moments later, a mini conga line works its way through the headquarters as a group of people bustle outside to the tune of “We Are Family.”
“Second print-outs coming soon!” someone cries. The crowd erupts in cheers. — Adrienne LaFrance
8:59 p.m. Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz at his Ward Warehouse HQ: “We’re encouraged. It’s a very good start. We feel that people are ready for change this election and hopefully we’ll be able to hold onto our lead and get to the general election.”
— Nanea Kalani
8:55 p.m. From Hannemann Headquarters
Republican State Rep. Gene Ward arrived a few moments ago. He is giving Australian Member of Parliament Amanda Rishworth a tour of political campaign parties tonight.
“She wanted to see American politics up close and personal,” Ward said.
“It’s obviously a very dynamic election,” Rishworth said of what she had seen so far. “There is a lot of passion running very high in both camps.”
The passion is high even among the senior citizens, some of whom showed few visible signs of enthusiasm at the campaign party.
“I told Mufi’s sister, if you hear somebody fainting from happiness, that’s probably me,” said 86-year-old Grace Hikida, of Kailua, who anticipates a Hannemann win tonight.
She leaned in close to confess that she is an auntie of Republican Congressman Charles Djou.
“He is my sister’s son-in-law,” she said.
Hikida has been waving signs for Hannemann and made him a lei of red and orange for what she is sure will be a victory. But the feisty 86-year-old said she was disappointed that Abercrombie was ahead after the first vote counts were released.
“Why should Abercrombie be governor? He’s 72! And he hasn’t done much for Hawaii during his time in Washington.”
— Nanea Kalani
8:50 p.m. GOP chief Jonah Kaauwai comments on the results so far.
Re running against Abercrombie and Schatz: “The strategy is to put together the Aiona/Finnegan team and rock and roll. We suspected Neil was going to win. A lot of us thought double digits but nothing like we’ve seen so far. We’re ready to take either one of them on but the contrast is certainly greater between Duke and Neil as well as Finnegan and Schatz. Policy wise, Neil has been known to be far on the liberal side fiscally as well as socially and Duke is conservative both fiscally as well as socially. So I mean it’s a great contrast for people to be able to decide. It’s a choice for the people.”
Re the 1st Congressional District race: “He (Charles Djou) has obviously proven himself as a fair and balanced legislator so I think people are very attracted to him now that we got to see him in action and we really believe that. Once we put Charles Djou in, people could see the way he legislates and they’re gonna keep him in there because he really does represent the people.” — RJ Brown
8:45 p.m. Neil Abercrombie is talking with folks at his headquarters on the Big Island over Skype.
Thanks to Ian Kitajima for this video.
— Dan Zelikman
8:40 p.m. Backstage at Abercrombie headquarters: Abercrombie aides Jim McCoy and Laurie Au still planning.
Credit: John Hook
8:35 p.m. Former governor Ben Cayetano is making the rounds. He stopped by Carlisle headquarters to show his support for the former Republican who’s got the edge in early returns in the mayoral race.
“I support Peter because he’s honest and he’s independent,” Cayetano says. “We need people who aren’t influenced by special interests, and in the end he’ll make up his own mind.”
Cayetano says it worries him to see what he believes is now a considerable amount of corruption at the city level.
“Especially with the rail system, there are some issues regarding how procurement was conducted,” the former governor says. “One reason I suppoted Peter is I asked him, I said, ‘Look, if we support you, you got to promise me that you’re going to look into it,” and he said he would. Former prosectuor you know? So you know he will.”
Spirits are high at the Carlisle campaign headquarters and people are calling him “Mr. Mayor.”
Carlisle’s smiling when he sighs: “I’m still nervous.” — Adrienne LaFrance
8:25 p.m. Check out the new slideshow we’ve put up that reflects what’s happening since the first results were released. https://civilbeat.org/posts/4668/ We also have a day slideshow. https://civilbeat.org/posts/2010/09/18/4667-hawaii-2010-primary-election-day-in-pictures/
8:15 p.m. Former Gov. Ben Cayetano on the governor results. “I’m very happy. I think in the governor’s race, Neil has built a sizable lead … It’s toward the end of the campaign when Mufi got in trouble. I feel pretty good about Neil’s chances.” — Chad Blair
8:13 p.m. FROM ELECTION RESULTS CENTRAL: In normal years, the first printout contains essentially all of the absentee voters. This year, a record absentee turnout made that impossible.
The first printout, released to the public at a few minutes after 7 p.m. but compiled by the Office of Elections at 6:22 p.m., includes 100 percent of early walk-in voters, 98 percent of neighbor island mail-in voting, and less than 50 percent of Honolulu mail-in voting, spokesman Rex Quidilla said.
Of 75,000 absentee ballots received by the City and County of Honolulu, just 36,000 were included in the first printout, which tallied more than 85,000 votes. That leaves 39,000 more mail-in votes to be counted for Oahu alone, pushing the absentee count to more than 120,000. The previous high was 102,000 in 2006.
The remainder of absentee votes will be included in the second print-out, to be released at 9 or 9:30 p.m., Quidilla said. That print-out will also include a portion of precinct votes cast Saturday. — Michael Levine
8:10 p.m.Supporters at Abercrombie headquarters are unaware that the Associated Press called the governor’s race for their candidate about 15 minutes ago.
Instead, it’s more music and hula and whistles and shouts.
None of Abercrombie’s top campaign operatives can be seen on the floor here.
Are they talking behind closed doors on whether to move up that acceptance speech?
Or are they waiting for a phone call from Hannemann? — Chad Blair
8:08 p.m. Hannemann campaign spokesperson Elisa Yadao came on stage at 7:56 p.m. to deliver greetings from Mufi, who she said is at home with his wife awaiting more results.
The campaign has repeatedly reminded supporters that they’ve worked hard over the last several weeks and to “hang in there.”
“Who’s going to be the next governor of Hawaii?” Yadao asked the crowd, most of whom lingered in the back close to TV screens.
A group of 25 or so senior-age supporters seated in a corner of the party tent remained unmoved as their younger counterparts, encouraged by Yadao, shouted “MUFI!”
This occurred after the Associated Press called the election for Abercrombie. — Katherine Poythress
8:00 p.m. Civil Beat has updated its results to reflect the inclusion of blank ballots and over votes. — John Temple
7:56 p.m. AP calls the governor’s race for Neil Abercrombie in a story with Texas time of 12:33 a.m., which is 7:33 p.m. in Honolulu. — Sara Lin
7:55 p.m. GOP U.S. Senate hopeful Cam Cavasso is the first to proclaim primary victory with a press release arriving in inboxes at 7:49 p.m.
The first printout shows him with a 52.2 perecent to 15.4 percent lead over John Roco. The winner will likely face Daniel K. Inouye, who leads Andy Woerner 83.6 percent to 10.6 percent after the first printout. Inouye, perhaps the strongest politician in Hawaii history, has yet to send out his victory announcement. — Michael Levine
7:50 p.m. This election could be a total rejection of the Hannemann administration and a rejection of two of the candidates supported by Sen. Daniel K. Inouye. Although the senator never made a formal endorsement of Hannemann, it was clear that’s who he was backing. Hannemann and Caldwell were the men running Honolulu Hale and it appears likely that they’re both on their way out, although it’s still too early to call the races.
7:47 p.m. Feeling Blue. The scene at Mufi Hannemann’s headquarters after the first results were announced.
Credit: Greg Yamamoto
7:45 p.m. Feeling Good! Neil Abercrombie on stage after the first results were released.
Credit: John Hook
7:44 p.m. Civil Beat analysis shows Abercrombie’s edge in Honolulu is even wider than statewide. In Honolulu it’s 61.2 percent to 35.9 percent. — Michael Levine
7:42 p.m. Carlisle is in great spirits, cracking jokes, laughing and making the rounds as his supporters eat.
“I feel like I just graduated from high school,” laughed Judy Carlisle, in reference to the pile of lei draped around her neck. She and her husband — also adorned with colorful lei — have been mingling with supporters just outside of his Bank of Hawaii Plaza headquarters since around 4 p.m.
They kicked off tonight’s celebration with a lion dance, and have no plans to leave until the final results are in. — Adrienne LaFrance
7:40 p.m. Abercrombie made an appearance on stage around 7:20 p.m., greeting his supporters with three hearty “Alohas.” Adorned with lei and a big smile on his face, he said:
“The first numbers have come in and they’re very very encouraging…We know the polls had to stay open almost an hour to accommodate everybody. All of you worked so hard, all of you were so dedicated.
“All of those early votes are still being counted, so we want to give everybody the opportunity to make sure they get counted. So I’m here to say thank you for your hard work. Let’s wait for those second numbers to come in and then we’re really going to celebrate!”
It’s highly unusual for a candidate to emerge from the background the way Abercrombie did. The two likely winners tonight — Abercrombie and Carlisle — are visible. No sight of Hannemann and Caldwell. — Sara Lin
7:30 p.m. Civil Beat results are slightly different from state’s because we’re not including blank votes and over votes. Blank votes are where people didn’t vote in a race. Over votes are when people make a mistake and vote in more than one party or don’t designate a party and yet vote for the party candidate. Civil Beat calculated the percentages based on the votes properly cast for candidates in that race. — Michael Levine
7:20 p.m. From Carlisle Headquarters — After results went up, he walked up onto the stage and said: “I have in my mind a certain set of numbers, and I said if we got to 40, it would be very hard for the opposition to catch up. Carlisle then called his wife Judy on stage and introduced her as “hopefully the next first lady of the city of Honolulu.”
The crowd continued to scream. — Adrienne LaFrance
7:17 p.m. State Election official Rex Quidilla says the first printout contains 100 percent of early walk-in voting across all islands, 98 percent of mail-in for neighbor islands, but only 50 percent of Honolulu mail due to larger than normal mail voting. The rest of mail ballots will be in 2nd printout along with a portion of today’s precinct voting. — Michael Levine
7:08 p.m. First results. Abercrombie at 58.8 percent vs. 39.8 percent for Hannemann. Carlisle 44.1 percent vs. 37.8 for Caldwell. Schatz at 37.9 vs. 19.5 for Sakamoto. 85,475 votes counted so far.
7:05 p.m. First Photo from reader of Live Blog: Ian Kitajima snapped this shot of Neil Abercrombie’s social media team at work at his headquarters.
Credit: Ian Kitajima
7:04 p.m. We’re down to waiting on 12 precincts before state election officials can release the results. — Michael Levine.
7:00 p.m. At Neil Abercrombie headquarters at the old CompUSA downtown, Honolulu Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, state Rep. Marylin Lee, UHPA director J.N. Musto, UN professor Amy Agbayani and former HSTA director Joan Husted are here to support their longtime friend and fellow Democrat.
Along with labor lobbyist John Radcliffe and 2006 gubernatorial nominee Randy Iwase, spotted earlier, it’s a gathering of sorts of the “old guard” — veterans all of Hawaii politics.
Not a lot of younger leaders here. Maybe they’re at someone else’s campaign headquarters — or out clubbing. — Chad Blair
6:58 p.m. Spotted!! Neil Abercrombie’s stunt double at Abercrombie headquarters. (Joke)
Credit: John Hook
6:55 p.m. State election officials say they’re waiting on 23 precincts, all on Oahu, before they can release the results of absentee and early voting. — Michael Levine
6:50 p.m. A power glitch caused a hiccup in the Hannemann campaign’s scheduled entertainment at about 6 p.m. At 6:45 p.m. supporters were still waiting for band Nesian NINE to rewire its equipment. — Katherine Poythress
6:45 p.m. Former Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue just arrived at Kirk Caldwell headquarters. Mazie Hirono, too. But Caldwell not there. He’s at home. — Adrienne LaFrance
6:40 p.m. The Hannemann campaign continued phone banking and busing voters until close to the 6 p.m. cut-off Saturday evening. Volunteers streamed back into headquarters as a blessing was said over the meal of poke, fried chicken and other Hawaiian staples.
Although recent polls have shown Democratic opponent Neil Abercrombie in the lead, Hannemann supporters expressed optimism as they awaited the first absentee ballot results.
Eddie S.L. Richard, 59, a groundskeeper from Honolulu, said that although he didn’t participate in the sign-waving and phone-banking, he believes Hannemann is a good man.
“I have always supported him in my heart,” he said, explaining that his first meeting with Hannemann was in his church at First Baptist Church of Honolulu.
Small knots of supporters stood around flat-screen televisions mounted on the supporting poles at a former car lot on S. Beretania Street. They anxiously awaited results. — Katherine Poythress
6:35 p.m. The scene at Hannemann headquarters.
Credit: Greg Yamamoto
6:20 p.m. If you’re at an election event and are taking photos with your cell phones, send them to dan@civilbeat.com. Be sure to include your name and contact information so we can give you the photo credit. — John Temple
6:15 p.m. Civil Beat team is in place. Michael Levine is filing reports from state election headquarters at the Capitol. Chad Blair with Abercrombie team. Katherine Poythress at Hannemann’s place. Adrienne LaFrance with Carlisle. Nanea Kalani with Caldwell. RJ Brown will be the wild card reporter, moving around tonight. Photographers Greg Yamamoto, John Hook and Brian Tseng all over things. — John Temple
6:10 p.m. There were reports of malfunctioning machines at multiple polling places Saturday, but the state says that the impacts on voting should be negligible.
Office of Elections spokesman Rex Quidilla told Civil Beat that machines were down for a “very long time” at only one location — Waikiki Elementary School — where the machine was down for two hours.
There, like at other locations that had short delays when starting up this morning, votes were still accepted by putting them into a secure box that allowed the machine to act as a “ballot bin,” Quidilla said. In such a scenario, the collected ballots are inserted into the machine by election workers during downtime between voters or at the close of the polls. Quidilla could not estimate how many ballots had been collected in that manner.
Voters did have the option of waiting for the machine to come back online to insert the ballot themselves, but it’s unlikely that many were willing to sit out a two-hour delay. The drawback of not inserting the ballot themselves means voters could not correct any omissions or errors if the machine kicked the ballot back due to an overvote or a mistake. Any ballot not filled out correctly would be tossed, and those votes disregarded.
“The reliance would be on the voter to make sure they picked their ballot (correctly),” Quidilla said. “There’s instructions in the booths and on the ballot itself. The ballot is formatted so you have to walk through the process of selecting a party. That’s one of the things we try to stress to the voters, to get that process to go smoothly, and that’s why we have elections staff there.”
Still, Quidilla acknowledged that he heard more reports of voter confusion than in prior years even though the ballot design was identical to the primary ballot in 2008, he said. He chalked it up the idea that “a single-party primary is not a normal election.”
“Voters want to vote for candidates, not a party slate of candidates,” Quidilla said. “We try to educate voters, we try to provide voter education and the ballot forces them to go through the step of picking a ballot and then vote your ballot.” — Michael Levine
6:05 p.m. While polls were scheduled to close at 6 p.m. sharp, the first print-out of absentee results won’t be available for at least a little while, Hawaii Office of Elections spokesman Rex Quidilla told Civil Beat at about 5:45 p.m.
The results — although already tabulated — cannot be released until all voting has ceased, Quidilla said. They’ll be held until it can be confirmed that each of the state’s 242 polling locations has closed its doors. And that might take until 7 p.m. or even 7:30 p.m., he said.
“There’s no rush to end this process,” Quidilla said, though the elections office has not been notified of any long lines or significant delays with just 15 minutes remaining. “If they’re in line at 6 o’clock, we’ll allow them to vote. … Even if it’s one person, we won’t be done at 6.” — Michael Levine
6:00 p.m. People are already cheering and celebrating at Peter Carlisle’s campaign headquarters just minutes before the polls close. Red, white and blue balloons everywhere, and Hawaiian music to entertain dozens of supporters. — Adrienne LaFrance
5:39 p.m. “Cautiously optimistic” is how Jim McCoy, communications liaison for the Neil Abercrombie campaign, describes his mood as State Elections officials prepare to release the first printout of voting results.
Abercrombie buddies Randall Iwase and John Radcliffe are among the supporters already at the former CompUSA location on Ala Moana Boulevard in downtown Honolulu.
It’s a cavernous space; whenever someone speaks into the stage mic, it all sounds like womp-womp-womp.
Denby Fawcett of KITV is interviewing campaign spokesperson Laurie Au, who seems upbeat.
To keep everyone entertained, there is plenty of food, juice and water, and a slate of musicians and dancers set to perform.
The candidate and his wife, Nancie Caraway, are not expected to take the stage until after 10 p.m. in anticipation of the third and final printout that is due around 11 p.m. or so.
Unless the unexpected occurs, of course! — Chad Blair
5:05 p.m.
Neil Abercrombie waves with a supporter earlier this afternoon.
Credit: John Hook
Hannemann supporters looking intense while an Abercrombie supporter lurks in the background.
Credit: Greg Yamamoto
5:00 p.m. Of course, some voters were a little more coy about their choices.
“Who did I vote for? I voted for three people in the Board of Education, and then I voted for a governor, and a lieutenant governor,” said a chuckling Tom Peterson outside Waikiki Elementary School. The 51-year-old writer and coach continued: “Most of the candidates, they stay at the shallow end of the pool. Hopefully some day we’ll have some deep thinkers but for now, people are just too busy trying to make a living.” —Adrienne LaFrance
4:50 p.m. Our reporter-hosts were out talking to voters and asking them what they thought the big issues were. Here’s a few of the things we heard:
“The big issues for me were education, housing and employment,” said Susan Watson, 60, a Hawaii Pacific University college professor who lives in Manoa. “I voted for Caldwell because he seemed to be the most liberal candidate and really seemed to support environmental issues. And it helps that he was endorsed by the HGEA. In the governors race, Abercrombie’s stance on civil unions was the tie-breaker for me. I feel really, really, really strongly about that.”
Employment issues resonated with Kitty and Tom Lilly in Kahala, too.
Kitty: “We were in property management and we worked with the state a lot. We really need to improve our infrastructure and get jobs.”
Tom: “I voted for Duke. He just appears to be more capable and can do a good job,” said Tom Lilly.
And for mayor?
Kitty: “I forgot. The ballot was so complicated! You could only vote for one party. Cross-overs don’t count. But I got it right the first time, no one had to help me. Okay, I remember. I picked Carlisle because he is so much smarter than the other guys,”
Tom: “Caldwell. I know him from Rotary.”
—Chad Blair and Katherine Poythress
4:33 p.m. After a brief afternoon rest, part of the team is starting to gather at Civil Beat headquarters in Kaimuki. The reporter-hosts are also beginning to head back out into the field and get set up at their assigned posts. We’ve got you covered tonight!
4:03 p.m. More pictures from around the island.
Afternoon voters fill the balloting stations at Niu Valley Middle School.
Credit: Greg Yamamoto
This man takes a advantage of an empty room to rest his legs.
Credit: John Hook
3:45 p.m. A steady stream of Manoa residents visited the cafeteria at Noelani Elementary School, where President Barack Obama attended kindergarten, to cast their votes in this year’s primary election.
Precinct chairman Scott Glenn said that by 10 a.m., “a couple hundred” voters had come through. Another several hundred arrived during the next two hours, usually in pairs and groups. Many whole families arrived at the polls together.
Poll volunteer Gene Paroia greeted voters as they arrived and explained the process with a demonstration ballot. He reminded them that they must select a party and vote only within that party. Nonpartisan candidates — like for the Hawaii State Board of Education — were on the back.
“A lot of them think they already know and they don’t want to be bothered,” Paroia said. “But this ballot is kind of confusing and a lot more restricted than usual; people have to be a lot more careful this time and stay within their party block.”
In an informal exit poll, most said they did not vote in the board of education race because they did not have enough information on the candidates. —Katherine Poythress
3:06 p.m. Earlier this afternoon, Mufi and Gail Hannemann were smiling and sign-waving on the Likelike Hwy. and School St. island near Kamehameha Shopping Center.
About three hours left until the polls close. Get out there and vote! And if you see one of our Civil Beat reporter-hosts at your polling place, be sure to say “hi.” Of course, you can also share your thoughts below too!
Credit: Greg Yamamoto
2:40 p.m. More reports of voter confusion about ballots at the polls.
At Kuhio Elementary School in Moiliili, precinct chair Lawrence Meacham said flaws in ballot design confused a number of voters.
He complained that voters had to first fill out a box to pick a party ballot before actually choosing candidates in the races under that party’s ballot. If they chose the races without first choosing a party, the ballot would be marked as an “overvote.” Meacham said filling out a party box is redundant.
He also complained that having nonpartisan races in separate columns was unnecessary and confusing. Keeping state and county races separate may have been the rationale, but maximizing voter clarity should be the No. 1 goal in ballot design, Meacham said.
While some voters had their initial ballot rejected by the machine for overvoting and sought help from election volunteers, just eight ballots had been spoiled as of around 11 a.m., Meacham said.
With plenty of booths and light foot traffic for about an hour while this reporter cast his ballot and then stood outside, there were no delays. —Michael Levine
2:23 p.m. Earlier today, Neil Abercrombie boarded a his trolley for some last-minute campaigning.
Credit: John Hook
2:08 p.m. We went a little silent there on the live blog. The technical guys stepped out for lunch and seemed to have taken the servers with them. Don’t worry, the rest of the team was still gathering news and photos from around the island. Time to bring this live blog back up to speed!
1:10 p.m.: Imagine you are Brian Schatz, one of six well-known Democrats running for lieutenant governor. You are 37 years old, a former legislator and former chairman of your party.
By the time primary day is over, you will either be sharing your party’s ticket with a guy named Neil or Mufi, or you will be just another defeated candidate.
If you are elected lieutenant governor, your chances of running for governor or Congress one day are significantly improved.
Credit: Chad Blair
If you lose — to a guy named Norman, Bobby, Gary or Jon Riki, or a woman named Lyla — your political career may well be over. Just four years ago, after all, you lost a race for the 2nd Congressional District. Two-time loser.
Such is the risk of politics! Schatz and his wife Linda waved to drivers town-bound along Kalanianaole Highway Saturday, hoping to persuade a few more voters to vote their way. —Chad Blair
12:40 p.m.: Despite complaints about a confusing ballot, things were running smoothly at Jefferson Elementary in Waikiki.
A volunteer says many of the precinct’s voters submitted absentee ballots, so it’s been a slow but steady stream of walk-ins. —Adrienne LaFrance
12:30 p.m.: Broken vote counting machine reported at Kaneohe Elementary School this morning, too. Long line to use it at 7:45 a.m., then it stopped working.
Same workaround applied: voters dropped their ballots into a slot on the side of the machine. —Sara Lin
12:15 p.m.: All eyes today will be on the the drama-filled Democratic primary race for governor between former congressman Neil Abercrombie and former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann.
But what about James “Duke” Aiona? Though he faces marginal competition, the presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee has to win his primary, too.
In Kapolei, Tish Rothwell cast a vote for Aiona.
“We need a righteous leader, one that’s for the overall good of our state, has family values and good morals. And doesn’t promote wasteful spending because that’s our tax dollars,” she said. —Nanea Kalani
11:20 a.m.: Steady traffic at Noelani Elementary School in Manoa all morning, reports Katherine Poythress.
A few hundred voters have cast ballots here so far, says Scott Glenn, chairman for the precinct.
10:45 a.m.: Good news for Waikiki Elementary School voters: The technician has arrived!
A tall, wiry voting machine technician with a cheerful Aloha shirt tucked into his pants has arrived on scene to check out the problem (it’s broken, and not counting ballots).
The technician doesn’t look too stressed. We’re hoping this means there haven’t been too many voting machine problems elsewhere. —Adrienne LaFrance
10:30 a.m.: Looks like mayoral candidate Panos Prevedouros is getting some support out in Kapolei.
When asked who she voted for, Ruth Kepo’o, a 68-year-old retired nurse replied: “The little Greek guy. He’s straightforward and tells you what’s what.”
Kepo’o had cast her ballot at Kapolei Elementary School. “He wants to save our money while some of the others are pushing, pushing, pushing for rail … If it doesn’t make common sense, something’s wrong,” she said. —Nanea Kalani
10:00 a.m.: Many Oahu residents awoke to rain this morning. Does rain suppress voter turnout?
That was a question in the 1996 primary race for city prosecutor.
Credit: Greg Yamamoto
In his first run for the office, Peter Carlisle forced the favored David Arakawa into a runoff in the general election because neither picked up more than 50 percent of the vote to win outright.
Arakawa supporters complained that torrential rainfall and flooding kept voters from the polls — especially in Waipahu, home to the popular Arakawas department store (it had closed the year before after 85 years in business). It was owned and operated by David Arakawa’s family. If memory serves, the State Elections Office kept polls open later than usual that election.
After the primary, Carlisle performed well in debates with Arakawa and won the general handily. He ran unopposed in 2000 and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008. Carlisle resigned in July 2010 to run for Honolulu mayor — a race that will be decided today, rain or shine. —Chad Blair
9:32 a.m.: UPDATE on the Waikiki Elementary School voting machine issue: The vote counting machine IS broken. It’s not accepting ballots. Instead voters are told to put their ballot in a slot on the side of the machine. Poll workers say they’ve called for someone to come and fix it. —Adrienne LaFrance
9:20 a.m.: No lines at Kaimuki High School, reports Randy Ching. All seems quiet and mellow.
Scenes of campaign workers put the finishing touches on governor candidate Neil Abercrombie’s trolley.
Credit: John Hook
9:15 a.m.: Potential voting issue? Earlier this morning we heard from a voter who said his paper ballot was not being accepted by the voting machine. Others were having the same problem too, so voters were leaving unrecorded ballots with poll workers at Waikiki Elementary School.
We called Rex Quidilla, spokesman for the Hawaii State Office of Elections, who said that voting machines at different polling stations are rejecting some ballots. “We’re aware of this. It’s voter overvoting,” he said. “People are not voting in the one party they’ve selected and machine does its job and says you’ve voted in more than one party. It’s not a glitch.”
Could the ballot itself be the part of the confusion? We did a story about how the absentee ballot certainly raised eyebrows.
Regardless, if ballots are rejected by the machine, voters have the option of leaving their ballot in secure bins to be counted later (at that time, the machine will only count the vote cast for the party selected on the ballot). —Sara Lin
Saturday, September 18, 2010. 6:58 a.m.: Good morning — it’s Election Day! The Civil Beat team is scattered around Oahu today and tonight to bring you the very latest from around the island. The polls should be opening very shortly. We hope everyone votes (although many of you have already voted as we discovered yesterday in Absentee Voting Sets Record). Check back here throughout the day and please share anything Election Day-related in the discussion below!
7:32 p.m. Polling booths await voters at Kuhio Elementary in Moiliili. –Michael Levine
Credit: Michael Levine
Friday, September 17, 2010. 5:00 p.m.: Welcome to our live blog on the election! We’ll be letting you know what happens right here. We’ll have one running story with tidbits from all the Civil Beat reporter-hosts spread across the city — text, photos, videos.
We also invite you to share your election day experience by emailing news@civilbeat.com or by sharing photos that we might put into the blog or into a slideshow. Our Flickr Photo Collection is a page where you can upload your photos. Just upload your shot, tag it so we can find it and make sure your settings allow us to use it. Be sure to include your contact information is current so we can give you the photo credit.
Until we’re back tomorrow, check out our latest story on what’s at stake.
