At a routine meeting Tuesday, elections officials and commissioners were stumped as to how to ensure a smooth-running general election.

That’s because Big Island election clerk Jamae Kawauchi has essentially refused to collaborate with them, thwarting their efforts to remedy any remaining elections-related issues.

State elections chief Scott Nago in August invited Kawauchi to a series of workshops in which all the county clerks and their elections staff would come together to discuss their best practices. 

“Basically they were set up to offer to the county of hawaii a place where they can sharpen their skills and do their job better,” said Elections Commission chair William Marston.

But Kawauchi didn’t attend the first gathering, which was held Sept. 10 on Kauai. Instead, she sent her deputy county clerk Steve Lopez and other staff, said elections spokesman Rex Quidilla.

As the county’s clerk, Kawauchi was responsible for a spate of mishaps that resulted in a botched primary election on Hawaii island. 

The Hawaii State League of Women Voters urged the Commission to conduct an investigation of the events that lead up to the primary day mishaps, but upon closing its meeting Marston announced that it wouldn’t.

The only agency that can actually hold Kawauchi’s feet to the fire is the Hawaii County Council, but its chair, Dominic Yagong, has taken little action. 

Oahu commissioner Danny Young said he was “scared” to look at the newspaper come Nov. 6 because of what he dreads could be a general election disaster on the Big Island. 

“If your hands are tied and you can’t talk to an individual who’s running all over the place, that’s scary,” he said. 

Some anticipated that, in the event of another mismanaged election, candidates would file lawsuits against the elections offices. 

And “when there are lawsuits, there are more expenses,” said Young.

— Alia Wong