Maui Races Decided Early After Oahu Delays

Election, file photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

The fourth summary report, released at 11:30 p.m. by the state Office of Elections included numbers from all 250 precincts across the state. A final summary report was not expected to change the outcome of the races affecting Maui County.

After an initial waiting game, voters across the state finally saw the first summary report released during the 8 p.m. hour. The printout included mostly absentee and walk-in numbers, but no precinct tallies from various polling places around the state. The first report was printed at 6:30 p.m., but was not available for release until all polling places across the state had officially closed.

The delay came as reports surfaced of polling problems at multiple sites on Oahu where voters reportedly ran out of paper ballots and were utilizing a single electronic voting machine at some sites.

In the second summary report, released at 8:33 p.m., 27 of 34 precincts on Maui were tallied, and the majority of Maui races had clear winners emerge.

A subsequent third summary report, issued at 9:53 p.m., included all 34 Maui precincts, but state-wide, there were six outstanding precincts that were still unaccounted for. By 11:30 p.m., a fourth summary report included all 250 precincts across the state.

The Maui results include a new state representative, Kaniela Ing (D), who defeated Republican incumbent George Fontaine for the South Maui seat in the Legislature. The final summary report attributed 4,813 votes or 60.9% of the vote to Ing; and 2772 votes or 35.1% of the vote to Fontaine.

In the County Council, there are two new members who won respective contested races to fill vacancies.  In Kahului, Don Guzman fills the vacancy created by Joe Pontanilla. Guzman earned 23,459 votes or 48% of the vote compared to Alan Fukuyama’s 14,921 votes or 30.5% of the vote.

On Molokai, Stacy Helm Crivello defeats Manuwai Peters, filling the vacancy created by the term limit of Danny Mateo. Crivello had a total of 20,270 votes compared to the 11,132 garnered by Peters.

In the hotly contested Office of Hawaiian Affairs race, incumbent Carmen Hulu Lindsey earned the state-wide stronghold with 55,967 votes, with a strong showing on Oahu and Hawaii Island. Here on Maui, Dain Kane earned the most Maui votes in the race, but came up short in the state-wide figures, where it counts, earning 9.5% of the vote or 41,371 votes. There were a total of seven candidates in the running for the Maui OHA residency seat.

A complete list of Maui results is now posted at the following direct LINK.