HONOLULU (AP) - Are running mates supposed to get along? Why don’t I get to choose a candidate for state House or Senate? Plus, can we all just vote by mail? Here’s a news guide to Hawaii’s Tuesday election.
RUNNING MATE DISCORD
Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in primary elections in Hawaii. The primary winners from each party then come together on the same ticket in the general election. This means they don’t pick each other, which can lead to rocky relations.
Marissa Kerns, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, said she didn’t attend a KITV televised debate on Oct. 29 because her running mate, state Rep. Andria Tupola, deliberately failed to tell her she was invited, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The Republican gubernatorial candidate denied this, saying she told Kerns at a campaign rally the day before the election that Kerns was invited.
Earlier this year, Kerns said Tupola should apologize for her voting record in the state House, which she thought was too liberal.
Democrats aren’t immune to discord.
Shan Tsutsui, who was elected lieutenant governor with Gov. David Ige in 2014, abruptly quit in January after complaining Ige didn’t give him enough responsibility. He then endorsed Ige’s primary election opponent, U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa.
Ige’s running mate is Dr. Josh Green, a state senator who won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. He attended the KITV debate.
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WHAT ELECTION?
More than half of the state House of Representatives will be automatically elected to office on Nov. 6 because they are unopposed. Most are Democrats, and one is a Republican. Voters in only 19 out of 51 House districts will have a choice on Election Day.
The Republican Party, which dwindled to five seats in the state House this past legislative session, is contesting just 17 seats in that chamber. Republicans had no one in the Senate last session and are contesting only five of the 13 Senate seats up for election this year.
Green and Libertarian party candidates are running in a few races.
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ELECTION SEASON
Tuesday is Election Day, but most Hawaii voters will have cast their ballots long before.
In 2016, 53 percent of those who voted did so either by mailing their ballots or casting them at an early polling site in the weeks before Election Day. During the August primary, 62 percent of ballots were cast by people voting early and by mail.
In-person early voting began on Oct. 23. County clerks mailed absentee ballots to voters in mid-October.
Kauai County will be testing all-mail balloting during the 2020 election under a law signed by Gov. David Ige this year. The law requires Kauai County to also maintain a voter service center where people may drop off their mail-in ballots or vote in-person if they choose. The center would open 10 days before the election through the day of the election.
If the experiment goes well, lawmakers could mandate all-mail voting for the rest of the state. Three states - Colorado, Oregon and Washington - already hold their elections by mail.
WHEN TO VOTE
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The first results printout released by the state Office of Elections will include all ballots cast during early voting and a portion of mail ballots.
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