County has record-low turnout

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WAILUKU - Maui County registered a record-low 25.5 percent turnout for a primary election in Saturday's preliminary runoff for legislative, school board and County Council seats.

State elections chief Kevin Cronin reported some problems in the polling, including a handful of sites failing to open on time because of staffing issues. But it's likely that few voters noticed, with statewide turnout also hitting a new low of 35 percent.

Over the previous two primary elections, statewide turnout was 40 percent in 2004 and 42 percent in 2006.

In Maui County, the low voter turnout likely was a result of few seriously contested races. The closest was the Democratic primary election for the 8th House District, where Rep. Joe Souki defeated challenger Tasha Kama by a margin of 452 votes to keep his seat for another two years.

But the Souki-Kama race wasn't even the most hotly contested.

The Democratic battle for votes between Rep. Kyle Yamashita and challenger Summer Starr in the 12th House District generated 4,262 votes between the two Democrats, out of 4,971 ballots cast in the Upcountry district.

The Souki-Kama race drew just 3,565 voters, with 231 not voting for either and four overvotes. The 9th House District (Kahului-Lower Paia) ran third, with 3,491 votes cast, although Rep. Bob Nakasone and Republican challenger Henry Kahula were both unopposed.

Registered-voter totals for each district were not available Sunday, but House districts average between 12,000 and 14,000 voters.

The lowest turnouts were in South Maui and West Maui. The 10th House District (West Maui-North Kihei) recorded just 2,128 votes cast.

The 11th House District (South Maui) generated just 2,575 votes cast, even with a contested Democratic primary between incumbent Joe Bertram III and first-time candidate Michael Gingerich. Bertram won handily, 1,168 to 502.

Rep. Mele Carroll, who was unopposed for re-election in the 13th House District, outpolled both Bertram and Gingerich with 1,898 votes of 2,984 votes cast.

Although the turnout percentage for the 2008 primary election was a record low for Maui County, it's a reflection of increased voter registration. There were 21,047 ballots cast this year, of 82,422 voters registered.

In 2004 - also an "off-year" because there were no mayoral or governor's races on the ballot - just 19,890 ballots were counted, but the turnout was slightly higher at 26.5 percent. Registration was 75,096.

Similarly in the 2000 primary, the voting total was 21,403, for a 29.7 percent turnout.

* The Associated Press contributed to this story. Edwin Tanji can be reached at citydesk@mauinews.com.