So You Want to Vote on Tuesday, Nov. 6 But Forgot to Register? No Worries!

HONOLULU Magazine’s last-minute voting guide to General Election 2018.

By Robbie Dingeman

Walk-in voting at Honolulu hale wrapped up Saturday.

Photo: Staff

It’s finally here! The 2018 General Election is Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. And even if you haven’t done anything more vigorous than rolling your eyes about some candidates, you can still vote and make your voice be heard. Which is always better than just complaining, right?

Elections officials say more than 180,000 voters already voted either as early walk-in or by absentee mail. In the primary there were 741,007 registered voters. For the general election 756,751 were registered before the polls opened on Nov. 6.

If you haven't registered yet, this is the first election year in Hawai‘i that you can do so on election day, so even procrastinators can still vote. In the primary election, officials say more than 2,000 people did just that. Here are the basics: You must be a U.S. citizen, Hawai‘i resident and at least 18 years old. Voters registering at a polling place should plan for extra time as they will be required to complete a registration affidavit form and wait until elections officials confirm that they are at the correct polling place.

Here’s our last-minute guide to making it easy:

Find your polling place based on your home address. Visit elections.hawaii.gov to type in your address and find your polling place or call 453-VOTE (8683).



Get to the polls anytime from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Anyone in line at 6 p.m. will be allowed to vote. Busiest times tend to be at the beginning of the day, around lunch and the last hour.



Bring your ID! They will accept a valid photo I.D. including a Hawai‘i driver's license, state ID, military ID, passport, copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, or other government-issued document that shows your name and address. So, your ID that shows an old address out of state won’t work.



View a sample of your ballot by visiting elections.hawaii.gov . Voters are electing federal, state and local government officials including: Congress; governor and lieutenant governor, all 51 state representatives, some senators, some city or county council posts and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. To make sure you know what to expect before you get behind the little red-white-and-blue curtain, view or print out the sample ballot so you know what you’ll be voting on before you get there.



In addition to selecting the candidates you favor, there’s a question about whether voters support a Constitutional Convention to review and potentially change the state’s Constitution.



Also statewide, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled against a constitutional amendment to fund education but it happened after the ballots were printed so the question is there but won’t count. And in Honolulu, there’s a question to make it easier for the rail transit board to hold meetings. It’s a bureaucratic housekeeping change that would help the Hawai‘i Authority for Rapid Transportation operate by making it easier for them to reach a quorum, the number of members they need to have in the room to act.



Want to know how it all turns out? Election results can be viewed at elections.hawaii.gov. For more elections and voting information, visit the website or call (808) 453-8683.