High Early Voting Doesn’t Help Turnout
More Hawaii voters took advantage of early and absentee voting in 2010 than ever before.
Nearly 130,000 cast their vote either by mail or by walking into a polling place early in the primary election — a record. In the general election Tuesday, more than 160,000 did the same, nearly reaching the mark set in the 2008 Barack Obama election.
But while more and more voters have avoided long lines on election day, the wider array of options and increased convenience haven’t helped increase overall turnout. Just 43 percent of voters participated in the primary, and 56 percent in the general election — that’s a quarter to a third off the pace Hawaii voters were setting in the 1990s.
Hawaii Primary Election History
| Year | Registered | Turnout | Turnout Pct |
Absentee | Absentee Pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 684,481 | 293,016 | 42.8% | 129,980 | 44.4% |
| 2008 | 667,647 | 246,299 | 36.9% | 95,042 | 38.6% |
| 2006 | 655,741 | 276,693 | 42.2% | 102,349 | 37.0% |
| 2004 | 626,120 | 248,731 | 39.7% | 79,276 | 31.9% |
| 2002 | 667,679 | 274,517 | 41.1% | 69,544 | 25.3% |
| 2000 | 629,162 | 250,848 | 39.9% | 49,192 | 19.6% |
| 1998 | 582,558 | 291,069 | 50.0% | 46,982 | 16.1% |
| 1996 | 531,892 | 275,548 | 51.8% | 37,695 | 13.7% |
| 1994 | 468,739 | 307,904 | 65.7% | 38,863 | 12.6% |
| 1992 | 432,723 | 251,576 | 58.1% | 23,134 | 9.2% |
| Average | 594,674 | 271,620 | 46.8% | 67,206 | 24.8% |
Source: Civil Beat analysis of election results
Hawaii General Election History
| Year | Registered | Turnout | Turnout Pct |
Absentee | Absentee Pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 690,748 | 385,034 | 55.7% | 163,276 | 42.4% |
| 2008 | 691,356 | 456,064 | 66.0% | 175,526 | 38.5% |
| 2006 | 662,728 | 348,988 | 52.7% | 118,823 | 34.0% |
| 2004 | 647,238 | 431,662 | 66.7% | 133,782 | 31.0% |
| 2002 | 676,242 | 385,462 | 57.0% | 110,049 | 28.5% |
| 2000 | 637,349 | 371,033 | 58.2% | 73,070 | 19.7% |
| 1998 | 601,404 | 412,520 | 68.6% | 70,345 | 17.1% |
| 1996 | 544,916 | 370,230 | 67.9% | 56,532 | 15.3% |
| 1994 | 488,889 | 377,011 | 77.1% | 53,843 | 14.3% |
| 1992 | 464,495 | 382,882 | 82.4% | 40,539 | 10.6% |
| Average | 610,537 | 392,089 | 65.2% | 99,579 | 25.1% |
Source: Civil Beat analysis of election results
A new study published by the University of Wisconsin this June takes a look at the issue on a national level. Titled “Election Laws, Mobilization, and Turnout: The Unanticipated Consequences of Election Reform,” the study [pdf] posits that early voting is “reducing the civic significance of elections” and actually driving down turnout.
One possible solution would involve election-day registration, which would allow motivated citizens to get signed up and vote in one fell swoop instead of having to plan 30 or more days in advance.
Hawaii Chief Election Officer Scott Nago said on election night that the Office of Elections has pushed for changes to the legislation. He said a new rule could still stop registration 30 days before an election — then open it up again only on election day. But the individual county clerks are in charge of registration, and they might not be on board, he said.
Nago said he’s not concerned that the same-day registration would be prone to fraud as identification and something like an electric bill would be required. He said he’s not sure it would increase turnout too dramatically, though he agreed that early voting does not help because it’s generally taken advantage of by people who were going to vote anyway.
Should Hawaii take additional steps to increase voter turnout? Chime in below.
