Chief Election Officer says he lacks authority to change voting method; public presses for audits and chain-of-custody records

The Elections Commission heard from Chief Election Officer Scott Nago that he does not believe state law gives him authority to change Hawaii’s method of voting from the current vote-by-mail system to single-day, in-person voting with voter ID.

“...I do not believe I have that authority. The authority is in statute, which requires the method of voting,” Nago told commissioners. He said significant changes to the state’s voting method would require legislative action.

Public testimony that followed focused on audits, chain-of-custody questions for mail ballots and signature‑verification procedures. Several speakers described lengthy in-person voting lines at Kapolei Hale on Nov. 5 and urged a return to more robust same‑day options. Others — including official observers and volunteers — pressed the commission to obtain detailed chain-of-custody documentation from counties and the U.S. Postal Service and to require post-election manual audits of ballot envelopes…