CUSTOMER FOCUS
INCREASED VOTER PARTICIPATION
VOTE BY MAIL WINS IN HAWAII’S SPECIAL ELECTION
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While Republican Charles Djou wound up with the most votes in Hawaii’s Congressional special election May 22, there was a second clear winner — the concept of voting by mail ( 5/13).
As reported in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper the day after the election, “Voters of the 1st Congressional District made it clear: When given the choice, most of the people in the district prefer to mail their ballots.”
According to Hawaii’s Office of Elections, 54 percent of the 317,337 registered voters in the district cast their votes by mail during the three-week-long special election. That voter turnout was substantially higher than the 13.3 percent recorded in 2003, when a polling place special election was held.
Behind the scenes and out of the spotlight, though, it was Hawaii’s postal employees who helped make it all work, according to Honolulu District Marketing Manager Gary Gardetto.
“Our sales team, support managers and operational managers stepped up to ensure the success of this election,” said Gardetto. “But the most credit should go to our clerks and carriers, who ensured that ballots were delivered and collected efficiently and accurately.”
Of the 171,417 people who voted in this special election, fewer than 2,400 people (about 1.3 percent) chose the walk-in option of casting traditional ballots at Honolulu’s city hall. Election officials reported there were no glitches in the vote-by-mail special election.
