Elections Commission asks legislature for outside audit and urges reconsideration of all‑mail voting

The Elections Commission voted on Oct. 29 to ask the state Legislature for an outside audit of the 2024 elections and to send a separate commission letter urging lawmakers to consider reverting to same‑day, in‑person voting.

Chair Mike Curtis said he would prepare the correspondence and run the reversion letter by Commissioner Lindsay Kam before sending it; the commission agreed that the audit request should be a distinct, formal communication from the body rather than a memorandum sent by the Office of Elections. “We will refer to the commission meeting and the vote we took,” Curtis said when describing the reversion letter and the plan to include the vote tally.

Why it matters: Commissioners and numerous public speakers said the commission must address apparent discrepancies in county counts, transfer manifests and postal records before the public will trust statewide results. Several witnesses cited a 19,042‑ballot gap reported in records obtained for Hawaii County and urged that the Legislature fund and authorize a comprehensive, independent audit to reconcile county, state and USPS records.

What the commission voted to do: By roll call, commissioners approved a motion that the commission itself draft and send a letter asking the Legislature to authorize an outside audit of the 2024 election. The roll‑call record for the audit letter shows votes in favor by Commissioners Adrian, Oppona, Krishni, Kam, Papalimu, Salvas and Chair Curtis; Commissioners McAdam and Ostercamp voted no. The commission later approved a separate motion directing the chair to work with Commissioner Lindsay Kam (and any other designees) to send the commission’s letter asking the Legislature to consider reverting to in‑person, same‑day voting; that letter will include the commission’s recorded vote on the recommendation.

Office of Elections input: Chief Election Officer Scott Nago briefed commissioners earlier on the options and cost/time tradeoffs for producing verbatim minutes. He told the commission that the Zoom transcript was already included in the Office of Elections subscription and could be downloaded at no extra cost but cautioned that automated transcripts are imperfect for Hawaiian names and punctuation. Nago said human transcription averages about four hours of work for each hour of recorded meeting audio and that resources would be a constraint depending on the election cycle.

What comes next: The chair said he will circulate drafts to Commissioner Kam and agreed to include the commission’s vote totals in the reversion letter. Commissioners also asked the Office of Elections to follow up with county clerks about business‑reply mail receipts from the U.S. Postal Service; Nago said his office had sent a request on Oct. 6 and had not yet received the county responses. The commission recessed the meeting and said it will reconvene next Wednesday to continue testimony and consider outstanding correspondence and PIG materials.

Vote tallies and formal actions are recorded in the meeting minutes. The commission did not adopt any immediate changes to election process or certification; it voted to ask the Legislature to authorize the external audit and to consider legislative changes to the mode of voting.