Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
State elections office outlines vote-by-mail procedures, accessibility options and addresses audio, signature concerns
Loading...
Summary
Office of Elections staff reviewed Hawaii’s vote-by-mail process, accessible electronic ballots and in-person ballot-marking devices; public commenters and committee members pressed counties and vendors on signature verification for assisted signatures and inconsistent audio on accessible machines. The committee asked staff to notify counties and vendors and to broaden outreach.
Ray, a voter services staffer with the Office of Elections, told the Statewide Elections Accessibility Needs Advisory Committee that Hawaii mails ballots to all registered voters roughly 18 days before each election and that the ballots include everything a voter needs to return a vote-by-mail ballot. "All registered voters automatically receive a mail ballot about 18 days before every election," he said, and he reminded voters that ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on election day to be counted.
Ray described the state’s signature-verification step and processing flow: "If there's a match to the signature that's on your voter registration record, that ballot will move forward to the processing and counting process," he said, adding that county elections divisions handle signature reviews and will contact voters to remedy mismatches.
He also reviewed accessibility options: voters with print disabilities may request an electronic ballot to mark at home, and voter service centers offer Verity Touchwriter ballot-marking devices with adjustable font, contrast and audio so voters can mark privately and independently. Ray urged preregistration for eligible 16- and 17-year-olds and recommended the state’s ballot-tracking tool so voters know when a ballot is sent and accepted for counting.
During public comment, Donald Sakamoto, who identified himself as chair of a Honolulu elections committee, said he had signature challenges and asked how witness signatures are verified when a ballot is dropped in a drop box. "If you have a signature problem like I do, my signatures don't match because I'm blind and my finger is screwed up," Sakamoto said. Ray said the county divisions manage signature verification and advised Sakamoto to follow up with his county clerk, while noting the electronic ballot option avoids the signature requirement.
Sakamoto and several committee members also raised audio concerns: he recounted a 2024 experience where the audio outputs on ballot-marking machines sounded uneven and sometimes hard to hear. "Is there any problems with the machine where you can make the voices the same so you don't have a female voice, a male voice, and then the voice pitch is the same?" he asked. Ray said the office escalated the issue and has worked with the vendor: "We'll be doing significant testing on the audio portion as well," he said, and encouraged voters to report any problems at voter service centers so staff can escalate them to vendor support.
Committee members pressed the Office of Elections to take concrete steps: Lou Anne Blake said the state, as the contract holder, should ensure vendors produce consistent audio files and that the state interface with vendors to fix recording problems. Cheryl Nelson and others described occasions when accessible machines at voter sites were not working and urged counties to keep spare machines and have vendor troubleshooting contacts available. Anthony Accomini and other members clarified that counties train voter service center staff and would contact the vendor for repairs; committee members asked the state office to notify counties about accessibility problems so they are not overlooked.
Ray said staff will post and distribute the committee’s compiled report on vote-by-mail accessibility more prominently on the Office of Elections website and to county elections divisions, disability-focused agencies and legislative leaders as recommended by committee members. He also listed planned outreach events and demos across the islands and encouraged member-provided contact lists to extend neighbor-island outreach.
The meeting closed with committee direction: staff will alert counties to reported machine and accessibility issues, continue vendor audio testing, promote the electronic-ballot option for eligible voters with signature difficulties, and circulate a distribution list for educational outreach. The committee also planned a post-election survey to gather feedback from users of accessible voting services.
