Office of Elections

Aloha,

With all the information out there, it’s hard to sort what’s real from what isn’t. We’ve gathered a number of common election topics to guide you through it all.

On voter registration…

Rumor: My personal information is widely available to bad actors because I am registered to vote.

Fact: Election officials do not release sensitive personal identifying information such as your Social Security Number, Hawaii Driver License, or Hawaii State ID information through public information lists.

It is true that under Hawaii law, certain voter registration data is available for public record.  This includes information such as your name and address.  However, this data can only be obtained through an official request to the County Elections Division and can only be used for election related purposes.

As such, receiving campaign materials or being contacted by a political candidate is not an indication that voter registration data has been hacked, illegally obtained, or is in the hands of bad actors.

Rumor: Hawaii voter registration rolls are largely inaccurate.

Fact: Election officials work continuously to uphold the accuracy of Hawaii’s voter registration rolls.  Voter list maintenance is a process managed by the County Elections Divisions, which are required to follow the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to determine the removal of a voter from the voter registration rolls.

These list maintenance procedures include: 

• Confirmation mail notices: Officials identify inactive voters using confirmation mailings. Election mailings include Notices of Voter Registration and mail ballots. Any election mailing that is undeliverable or if the voter no longer resides or receives mail at the address should be returned to the respective County Elections Division. 
   
  The County Election Division then sends a follow up mailing that can be forwarded to the voter asking them to update or cancel their registration. If a voter updates their registration, they are considered active and automatically mailed a ballot. If a voter does not update their registration, they are flagged as inactive and not mailed a ballot. Voters who do not update their registration within 2 General Elections are then removed from Hawaii’s voter rolls.

• Cancelations through government records: Officials use government records to identify and remove voters who are no longer qualified to vote. This includes the removal of deceased voters and the removal of those with felony convictions using records from state departments. 

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On voter fraud…

Rumor: There are high incidents of residents casting multiple ballots.

Fact: Reports of high incidents of voters fraudulently casting multiple ballots are without merit.  Suspected incidents of voter fraud are referred to law enforcement for thorough investigation, and there have been no findings of widespread voter fraud since implementing statewide elections by mail in 2020.

Election officials utilize a multi-pronged system of safeguards to combat fraudulent voting, including: 

• To prevent voters from voting more than once: Every ballot return envelope is assigned a unique barcode. When a voted ballot is received, officials scan the barcode and credit the voter for voting in the election. This record prevents attempts to submit multiple mail ballots or to vote in person. 

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On counting ballots, Election Day voting, and more…

To read more Rumors vs. Facts, including insight on processing voted ballots, Election Day voting, and post-election audits, visit elections.hawaii.gov.