Hawaii voters aren’t leaving the rolls in droves over the prospect of some of their information being sent to a commission impaneled by President Donald Trump, but there have been a few.
Hawaii voters aren’t leaving the rolls in droves over the prospect of some of their information being sent to a commission impaneled by President Donald Trump, but there have been a few.
That’s according to county elections officials, who say complaints have so far outnumbered registration cancellations.
Trump, a Republican, created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in May to investigate his unsubstantiated claims that millions of people voted illegally in 2016. The commission in June requested any records considered public by states, including driver’s license numbers, partial Social Security numbers and voting histories.
No state is sending all of the information sought, and 14 states are denying the commission’s request.
Hawaii’s four counties have responded to the panel’s request, with all but one — the City and County of Honolulu — sending the limited data they’re allowed to share under state law.
That’s the public list, which contains only voters’ first and last names, district precincts and whether the voter is active or inactive.
Honolulu sent the commission a letter requesting $153 in fees for the data. So far, there’s been no response to the Aug. 10 letter, Assistant Elections Administrator Rex Quidilla said Friday. The other three counties didn’t ask for fees, which are allowed under state law.
“Our office has received calls from people concerned about sharing the data,” Quidilla said.
He said he wasn’t sure if any of them followed through by canceling their voter registration.
Oahu had 477,993 registered voters as of Aug. 29.
Hawaii County Elections Administrator Pat Nakamoto said her office also received complaints. Seven people canceled their voter registration, she said.
“We did have other people call with concerns,” Nakamoto said.
Hawaii County had 107,875 registered voters as of Aug. 29.
Kauai Elections Administrator Lyndon Yoshioka said he heard of only one call, which was not as much a complaint as a question about whether the individual could opt out of the public list. He said he explained that wasn’t allowed under law.
Kauai had 42,478 registered voters as of Aug. 22.
A spokesman for Maui County, which had 89,859 registered voters as of Aug. 28, could not be reached for comment by press time Friday.
The three counties that already submitted their records sent them on a password-locked CD, with a password sent in a subsequent mailing, according to documents the newspaper received pursuant to a public records request. The newspaper also received, in response to its request, a portion of the voter list they sent to the commission, containing 10 sequential names.
The commission, which met Tuesday in Manchester, N.H., asked for much more data than what Hawaii is sending.
Commission Vice Chairman Kris Kobach said 20 states have sent data so far. He said the commission hopes to use it to investigate possible cases of people voting in multiple states but said that will depend on how much information it receives.
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, said some voters have canceled their registrations or been hesitant to register since learning the group has asked state governments to provide data on individual voters.
“Their voting suppression impact has already begun,” he said on a press call organized by the Democratic National Committee.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.