Proof that every vote count: Incumbent lawmaker wins re-election by just 40 votes

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - In a razor-thin victory, Democratic incumbent Maile Shimabukuro won the state Senate race for District 22 after a recount of ballots.

After the ballots were cured Wednesday, the results show Shimabukuro as the winner with just 40 votes over Republican Samantha Decorte.

Before the recount, Shimabukuro was up by 72 votes.

“I’m just so surprised that the results came out this quick, I thought we were going to have to wait until Nov. 22,” Shimabukuro said.

“So I’m very grateful to the Elections Office and all those that did the counting so fast. I’m extremely grateful to all my supporters, everybody worked so hard. And I can’t thank them enough for all the blood, sweat and tears they put into this race.”

The candidates said there were 192 ballots in their district that had missing or mismatched signatures.

“This if anything has been such an an exposing situation to our county system and to our state system,” Decorte said.

“We just need to do a better job at helping to cure these ballots in a more effective way. Kauai County, when they have uncured ballots, they make phone calls, Honolulu County, they send out letters. It doesn’t really allow for a lot of time. I think we can definitely do better than that.”

Wednesday was the deadline for all voters to fix rejected ballots and make sure they are counted.

The Office of Elections will send out a final statewide summary report on Tuesday.

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