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Initial effort to recall the mayor falls 20,022 signatures short

Organizers will have 20 days to collect more signatures

Maui County Clerk Kathy Kaohu (center) meets recall organizer Sheila Walker and recall committee member Paul Romero outside the county building in Wailuku on Nov. 20. Looking on is election clerk Mei Mailou-Santos (right). Walker, Romero and others have been seeking to have Mayor Michael Victorino recalled over COVID-19 mandates and other issues. The County Clerk’s Office said Thursday that the efforts to recall Mayor Michael Victorino were 20,022 signatures short of the 21,586 needed to trigger a recall election. Of the 3,211 signatures submitted, 1,647 were deemed invalid and 1,564 were valid. However, the group has until 4 p.m. Dec. 29 to submit a supplemental petition with more signatures. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

A group of residents trying to recall Mayor Michael Victorino over COVID-19 mandates and longtime county issues has fallen about 20,000 signatures short but will have a second chance to collect more names.

The Maui County Clerk’s Office released results on Thursday afternoon, in which it said the RecallVictorino.org group was 20,022 signatures short of the threshold of 21,586, which is 20 percent of the Maui County voters registered in the 2020 general election.

Of the 3,211 signatures submitted, 1,647 were deemed invalid and 1,564 were valid, the certification shows.

County Clerk Kathy Kaohu said in a letter to the group led by Sheila Walker, Paul Romero and Cullan Bell, that according to the County Charter, the group has 20 days to file a supplemental petition with her office, which would make its deadline 4 p.m. on Dec. 29.

The county clerk will then have 10 days after Dec. 29 to examine the signatures, Kaohu wrote.

In response to the results of the initial efforts to recall him, Mayor Michael Victorino said Friday that “my top priority has remained fixed on protecting the health and well-being of everyone who lives in Maui County. I was elected to make the hard decisions that not everyone will agree with all the time.” While organizers were unable to get the required number of signatures to trigger a recall election, they will have 20 more days to submit a supplemental petition.

Falling 20,000 signatures short did not dampen the spirits of lead organizer Walker, who said they will collect clipboards at an event on Dec. 26.

“I’m never going to quit and I’m never ever, ever going to give up. No matter what the outcome is, the people win,” the South Maui resident said Friday. “We win because we stood up for what we know to be right.”

Organizers and supporters of the recall effort are concerned about COVID-19 vaccine mandates and possible lockdowns, along with the county’s spending reports in relation to the millions of CARES Act funds received through the pandemic. Other issues include affordable housing, the unsheltered population on Maui and water rights.

Walker said the number of signatures deemed valid was “kind of what we expected,” and said she was “actually pleased” that the Clerk’s Office was able to read and validate many of those signatures, which may have been illegible.

But she pleaded to supporters to come out and sign again, as she does not have an easy way to contact those whose signatures were deemed invalid.

“Everybody has to sign again. Even if you signed the first time, you have to sign again,” she said on Friday.

In addition to sorting out issues with illegible signatures and other technicalities such as addresses on file, Walker said the group will hold a one-day event on Dec. 26 to collect all of the petition signatures, even though this will be ahead of the legal deadline. There will be live music, entertainment and holiday treats.

She said many clipboards with signatures came in late after the initial collection and wanted to be sure that does not happen again.

Even as the second attempt to collect signatures comes during the holidays when people are busy, Walker saw the holiday buzz as an opportunity for more exposure and more chances of getting signatures.

There will also be “pop-up” signature locations along with petitions at local businesses, which can be found on the group’s website.

Victorino has previously said that he was saddened to hear about the petition but that the group had the right to come forward and carry out the recall efforts.

“Since this pandemic began, my top priority has remained fixed on protecting the health and well-being of everyone who lives in Maui County,” Victorino said in a statement via email on Friday. “I was elected to make the hard decisions that not everyone will agree with all the time. My administration continues to work collaboratively to keep people safe while rebuilding our economy. I invite everyone to join in this effort, because we can move further and faster when we work together.”

According to the certification results from the County Clerk’s Office, the 1,647 invalid signatures included 501 who had incorrect or missing voter precincts, 447 who were not registered voters, 434 who had different addresses, 77 who registered after the 2020 general election, 58 who had mismatched signatures, 40 who provided insufficient information, 35 who had different names, 20 that were not legible, 19 who were registered in a different county in the state of Hawaii, eight duplicate signatures and eight with miscellaneous invalid issues.

If the petition to recall the mayor is still insufficient in reaching the 21,586-signature threshold, no new petition for the recall of the mayor can be filed within one year thereafter, according to the County Charter.

But if all signatures needed are gathered and deemed sufficient, then Victorino has five days to decide whether or not to resign. If he does not resign, then a special recall election may take place where Maui County registered voters can vote on his removal, according to the County Charter.

If the majority votes for removal, then Managing Director Sandy Baz becomes the acting mayor.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

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