Hawaii started using mail-in voting in 2020. Ballots are mailed to every registered voter and come with an envelope that does not require postage to be sent in. However, ballots should have been mailed by Oct. 27 to ensure they will be received in time to be counted on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.

Those who missed the mail-in deadline may take their ballots to voter service centers or drop boxes located around the islands


What You Need To Know

  • Oahu has 15 drop boxes, Kauai has 11 drop boxes, Hawaii Island has 11 drop boxes and Maui has 14 

  • Colin Moore, the director of the Public Policy Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, advocated for more drop boxes, saying that they cost “a tiny amount of money in the grand scheme of things”

  • The Kauai County Clerk said drop box locations were selected based on the ability to secure a drop box to a fixed object, the community's familiarity with the site, accessibility for commuters and ease of access 

  • The Hawaii Island County Clerk listed security, safety, population density, ease of access and 24/7 availability as reasons drop box locations were selected

Oahu has 15 drop boxes, Kauai has 11 drop boxes, Hawaii Island has 11 drop boxes, Maui has 12 drop boxes, and Lanai and Molokai have one each.

However, some people have wondered why there aren’t more drop boxes, which would encourage voting because of convenience and help those submitting a ballot at the last minute. 

“I think there should be more drop off boxes,” Colin Moore, the director of the Public Policy Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said to Spectrum News Hawaii. “We know that there's a lot of people who are casting their ballots at the last minute and if they are, they've got to put it in one of those drop boxes.”

“The only reason to limit that is there's an expense, but we're not paying for the expense to set up precincts all over the place,” Moore added.

Switching from in-person voting to mail-in voting involved a significant shift in expenses. The major cost drivers are now mailing house costs, postage and the voting and vote counting system, according to a 2021 report prepared by the Office of Elections called Implementing Elections by Mail.

The report said it cost $228,754 in 2020 to set up drop boxes, but for the 2022 election, the cost dropped to $12,200. 

Kauai County Clerk Jade Fountain-Tanigawa told Spectrum News Hawaii that the locations of the drop boxes were selected based on “existing infrastructure which allows the drop box to be secured to a fixed object; site familiarity for the community in which the drop box was placed; accessibility for commuters (well-traveled routes); and ease of access for voters.”

Hawaii Island County Clerk Jon Henricks told Spectrum News Hawaii that the locations of the drop boxes were selected “based upon security of the drop box and the ballots within, safe conditions for our voters, centers of population density, ease of access from main thoroughfares and other transit routes, ability for the voter to deposit their voted ballot packet 24/7, and availability of our desired locations.” 

Henricks said that as a result of these conditions, most of the drop boxes are located at county facilities, with the exception of the drop box located at the Waikoloa Village Association.

The County of Hawaii Island worked with the police department to place many of the drop boxes at community police stations, especially in rural areas, as they were the most likely to meet the aforementioned requirements: security, safety, populated areas, ease of access, and 24/7 availability.

“We are very appreciative of HPD’s support,” Henricks added. 

Spectrum News Hawaii is still waiting to hear back from the Honolulu County Clerk and Maui County Clerk regarding why and how the drop off locations were chosen.

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii.