HONOLULU (KHON2) — You may see fewer political advertisements on TV lately, but expect them to ramp up again soon as we’re now just a little over a month away from the 2022 general election.
Today the voting machines for the voter service centers on Oahu were tested in front of official observers.
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“I’m here to volunteer as an election observer and I think it’s really important for people to get involved in our elections and not just take for granted that it’s all being done for us,” official observer Virginia Enos said.
The office of the election had the officials on hand to run test ballots through the machines, looking for accuracy and logic.
“The official observers get ballots, they mark them, they get their results, they reconcile them, every time the results don’t match the ballots it’s always been human error,” Hawaii chief elections officer Scott Nago said.
Recent national accusations of election fraud, although without credible evidence, have put a spotlight on the security of the election.
“There’s always going to be questions about the security of the election,” Nago said. “But this is a secure process, this is part of the security process we’re going through now, we test the system, we certify that the system is tested, working properly, we’ll seal it up and it won’t be touched until it’s used on Election Day.”
Observers KHON2 spoke with were happy with how the state officials ran things Saturday.
“No improprieties that I saw from what I think the people doing this are doing the best that they can under the circumstances, everyone is under a microscope,” Honolulu County Republican Party chairman Brett Kulbis said.
According to Nago, ballots are scheduled to go out soon.
“Your voter registration must be current whether you vote in person or receive a ballot, ballots are not forwardable so if you do move or change anything in your voter record you need to re-register. You can do that online or fill out a voter registration form at post offices, and libraries, you can even download a copy on our website.”
