Several races too close to call with thousands of ballots still being processed

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Most of the major statewide election showdowns are decided, but several other races are still too close to call as the state waits for the latest statewide results.

Some 12,000 ballots on Oahu alone still needed to be processed Wednesday.

Those votes were still being looked at because they didn’t have signatures, state election officials said.

However, a fourth printout of election results for Oahu only was released around 7:30 p.m.

As of 7:30 p.m., election officials said all Oahu ballots have been counted for. But there are still some ballots left on Kauai to be counted.

As of 5:10 a.m., Hawaii County has finished tabulations but the numbers will not be updated until all counties are complete. According to election officials, statewide numbers will not be updated until all counties are finished processing votes.

While ballots are still coming in, big races including for governor and congressional leaders are unlikely to be swayed as the margin is too wide.

Furthermore, the latest numbers show that of the 861,358 just 353,504 cast their ballot — that’s just a 41% voter turnout.

And with all of those people in line to vote on Oahu and across the state, one might think that in-person turnout could have changed those numbers.

But, the latest figures from the state’s Election Office show that as of Tuesday night only 16,688 — just 1.9% of voters in the state chose to vote in person. That’s almost double the people who opted to vote in person for the primaries in August, in which Hawaii saw a little over 9,000 people.

SPECIAL SECTION: Election 2022

The latest island-by-island breakdown of voter turnout shows

• On Oahu, turnout was almost 49%. Around 9,800 voted in person and close to 266,000 voted by mail.
• On Hawaii Island, with more than 131,000 registered voters, just over 64,000 cast their ballots — a little more than 3,000 voted in person. The total turnout was 49.3%.
• On Kauai, the total turnout was 36.5% with more than 1,400 voters who cast their ballot in person.
• In Maui County, turnout was 31.1% with more than 2,300 people who voted in person.

CONTINUING COVERAGE:

• Bissen ousts incumbent Victorino to win race for Maui mayor
• PHOTOS: From long lines to sign waving, here’s a look at Election Day in Hawaii
• Incumbent Derek Kawakami soars to reelection in race for Kauai County mayor
• In-person voters on Election Day encounter hours-long waits to cast ballots

This story will be updated as these numbers could change throughout the day.

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