WAILUKU - With the state and county races sorted out in the results of the primary/county first special election on Saturday, the choices for voters get even wider Nov. 4.
The general election/second special election ballot will be longer, with nine County Council seats to be decided, as well as two Board of Education seats and four seats for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs - although several council and OHA seats have incumbents who have no challengers.
There also will be six choices on the presidential/vice presidential race on the Hawaii ballot, with the Constitution Party, Green Party, Independent Party and Libertarian Party all qualifying along with the two major national parties. In the case of the presidential election, the ballot will show the names of the candidates although voters technically are selecting the electors for the party. Hawaii will have four of the 538 electors who will select the president and vice president; 270 electoral votes are required for the majority.
Voters who already know their preferences, or who won't be able to get to their polling place on Nov. 4, will be able to vote by mail or as walk-in absentee voters.
Requests for mail ballots may be made now with the Maui County Clerk's office, 200 S. High St., Room 702, Wailuku 96793. Call 270-7749 for information or go to www.hawaii.gov/elections. Requests for mail ballots will be accepted until Oct. 28; the ballots must be returned to the Maui County Elections Office before 6 p.m. Nov. 4.
Walk-in absentee voting will be held Oct. 21 through Nov. 1. In Maui County, walk-in polling sites will be set up at the County Clerk's Office in Wailuku, at the Lahaina Civic Center and at the Mitchell Pauole Center in Kaunakakai.
For U.S. citizens who haven't registered to vote, the deadline to register for the general election is Oct. 6. Any citizen who will be at least 18 years old Nov. 4 may register at the County Clerk's Office, or with deputized voter registrars.
Voters who have changed their residence, their mailing address or their name since the 2006 election must re-register at their current residence with the county Elections Office.
For the Maui County Council, Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Board of Education, voters will be voting on all races on the ballot, even where the candidates are required to be residents of specific districts. The County Council is divided into nine residency districts. There will be two BOE seats subject to residency requirements and three OHA seats subject to residency requirements as well as a no-residency seat for OHA on the ballot.
