Elections commission PIG finds no credible evidence of 19,000‑ballot discrepancy; public pushes for audits and chain‑of‑custody records

The Hawaii Elections Commission on Oct. 20 heard a 99‑page permitted‑interaction‑group report concluding there was “no credible evidence to support the claim of a significant ballot discrepancy” in the 2024 general election on the Island of Hawaiʻi, but public commenters and some commissioners urged further investigation and better chain‑of‑custody reporting.

Commissioner Jeffrey Ostercamp, who read the PIG report for the panel, said the PIG compared certified state totals to county envelope tallies and to USPS business‑reply‑mail (BRM) receipts and found the BRM records incomplete and unsuitable for reconciling vote counts. “The Big Island’s envelope tally does, in fact, closely match its ballot count,” Ostercamp said, while noting that the state reported 76,595 mail‑in ballots and the county’s SVRS‑based envelope tally was 76,587 — a difference of eight ballots.

Why it matters: Several members of the public and commissioners argued the commission needs verifiable paper records and more transparent daily reporting to maintain public trust. Testifiers urged the commission to require counties to provide…