Voters tout importance of being involved on Election Day

KAILUA-KONA — West Hawaii voters hit the polls Saturday, deciding leaders as well as choosing who will represent their preferred party in November’s races.

Races for everything from county council to U.S. Senate were on the ballot.

Residents at polling locations repeatedly emphasized the importance of local races and primary elections, even though they might not match the excitement of races like the presidential election.

“The government gives us the opportunity to speak and we need to take that opportunity,” said Jeff Waddell after casting his vote at Kahakai Elementary School in Kailua-Kona.

Waddell said he lived overseas for three years and being unable to participate in the political process while abroad, he said, made him value even more his rights and responsibilities as an American citizen.

Since he returned to the states, he said he’s been “very careful” to vote in the elections he could participate in.

Waddell said he’d be supporting former Mayor Harry Kim in the mayoral race.

Waddell said he believes Kim did a good job as mayor during his term from 2000 to 2008.

“It’d be nice to get back to that,” he said.

Couple Cass and Sarah Patton emphasized the importance of voting locally.

“These are the things we can change,” said Cass at Kahakai Saturday.

Self-described “Bern-ocrats,” a reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders, Cass and Sarah said they were looking for candidates who aligned with Sanders’ views.

“It’s about making a better us, not a better me,” Cass said.

Sarah said the couple also got some help when they were deciding whom to cast their ballots for in the mayoral race.

“It’s not easy,” she said of choosing a candidate. “We spent time looking up our choices.”

Having lived on island for less than a year, she said, they sought out the advice of their landlord.

After all they said, voters ought to “rely on your kapuna” for advice.

Eventually, she said, they settled on Harry Kim.

Cass commended the former mayor’s “civic mindset” and focus on infrastructure.

At Kekuaokalani Gym in Kailua-Kona, precinct officials said fewer than 300 of the precinct’s 2,500 voters had come into vote as of 4 p.m. Saturday.Precinct official James Monk said he expected more voters to start coming in after 4:30.

After voting at the gym, Kailua-Kona resident Peggy Andersen talked about the importance of voting in all elections.

“I wanna have a say in the electoral process,” she said. “You can’t complain if you don’t vote.”

Andersen said Wally Lau had her vote in the mayoral race.

“I would like someone who puts a priority to the west side (of the island) as well as the east side,” she said.

Monk said voting in primary elections and local races is just as important as any other race.

“You’re a citizen and you need to be here to vote,” he said.

Monk said they hadn’t experienced any issues at the polling place throughout the day, saying voters have been “civilized.”

“I’ve had a lot of people say ‘thank you for volunteering,’” he said. “That makes me feel good.”