Maui Voter Turnout Remains Lowest in State

Maui voter booth, file photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

Maui’s voter turnout of 56.8% on General Election Day remained the lowest in the state, but above 2010 levels, and about 3,144 votes shy of the stronger 61% turnout during the last presidential election in 2008.

State-wide, voter turnout was the highest on Kauai where 62.9% of voters cast ballots. That was followed by Honolulu (62.8%), Hawaii County(61.1%), and Maui (56.8%).

On Maui, a total of 48,895 people cast ballots out of the 86,053 registered voters. The breakdown included 30,834 (35.8%) voters who turned out on election day at the precincts; and 18,061 (21%) voters who cast ballots via absentee walk-in or mail-in voting.

The total turnout for the state during yesterday’s 2012 general election was 61.9% with 436,520 voters casting ballots of the 705,668 registered voters in the state.

During the 2012 primary election in August, voter turnout on Maui was 25,702, or 30.6%, the lowest in the state. During the last general election in 2010, Maui’s voter turnout was 42,322, or 49.7%; and during the last presidential election in 2008, the general election turnout for Maui was 52,039, or 61.1%.