2020 election

Voters marked the end of a fraught U.S. election season at the polls Tuesday, casting the last of what will likely be a record number of ballots in the midst of a global pandemic that upended long-established election procedures, prompted an unprecedented surge in mail ballots and triggered hundreds of lawsuits.

NEW YORK — Television networks are adding experts in election law to their election night coverage teams so they're prepared to explain legal challenges or irregularities that may come up during the vote.

As early voting breaks records across the U.S., political analysts and campaigns are reviewing reams of data on the voters, looking for clues to key questions: Who is voting? And who is winning?

This article was originally published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit newsroom based in Washington, D.C. Hawaii has long been plagued by an abysmal voter turnout rate. In 2018, less than 40% of the state’s voting-eligible population turned up for the general election — the lowest rate in the nation, according to a U.S. Elections Project analysis.

Updated: 10/19/2020, 12:09 p.m. The Hawaii Department of Health today reported no deaths and 39 new COVID-19 cases, among the best daily counts the state has recorded in recent weeks.

Oahu had 31 new cases followed by 7 on Hawaii Island, 1 on Kauai and none in Maui County. The latest count brings the total number of COVID cases during the pandemic to 14,068. The death toll stood at 187. 

SALT LAKE CITY — Trading barbs through plexiglass shields, Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Kamala Harris turned the only vice presidential debate of 2020 into a dissection of the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with Harris labeling it “the greatest failure of any presidential administration.”

The chairs of the Hawaii legislative judiciary committees called for action to prevent the state's highly successful mail-in balloting from being disrupted by President Trump's moves against the U.S Postal Service.

Update: 8/9/2020, 11:50 a.m.

After a strong mail-in turnout reversing years of low participation, Saturday's primary election results show former TV executive Rick Blangiardi headed to a general election runoff in the Honolulu mayor's race against Keith Amemiya, the one-time high school sports association head. On Hawaii Island, incumbent Mayor Harry Kim lost to challengers Mitch Roth and Ikaika Marzo who move on to the runoff in November.

Updated 8/6/20, 5:30 p.m.

Voter turnout for the 2020 primary is on its way to surpassing participation in both the 2016 and 2018 elections across the state.

Primary day for the 2020 elections is this Saturday in Hawaii and 15 candidates are running to succeed the two-term mayor, Kirk Caldwell.

If you haven’t mailed in your primary election ballot yet, the clock’s ticking to get it delivered on time.

State election officials advise that you mail your ballot five days ahead of Saturday’s election. That's today.

Mail ballots need to reach the county clerks by Saturday at 7 p.m. to be counted. Postmarks don’t count.

Voters can also submit their completed ballots in special drop boxes called places of deposit in each county.

Election officials remind voters to sign the back of their ballot envelopes before they submit or mail in their ballots. 

HONOLULU (AP) -- There’s only one major candidate in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, virtually guaranteeing he will be sworn in as Hawaii’s newest congressman in January.

CHICAGO — Young adults have filled streets across the country on a scale not seen since the 1960s to protest for racial justice after the death of George Floyd. But whether that energy translates to increased turnout in November is another question.

WASHINGTON — Six months from Election Day, President Donald Trump’s prospects for winning a second term have been jolted by a historic pandemic and a cratering economy, rattling some of his Republican allies and upending the playbook his campaign had hoped to be using by now against Democrat Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON — The turbulence of impeachment, a contentious presidential campaign and a global virus health threat confront President Donald Trump as he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday night. But one thing about the Trump era has remained remarkably steady: public opinion on the president.

LAS VEGAS — Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is working to make inroads with Latino, black and Asian American voters in Las Vegas this weekend, outreach that the South Bend mayor has been slow to make compared with many of his rivals.

Hawaii Congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard tweeted earlier this week that she won't attend the next Democratic National Committee debate scheduled for Dec. 19 in Los Angeles in protest. As it turns out, she didn't qualify.