Green, Nago meet Hawaii County officials on ballot security, election readiness
Green and Nago met Hawaii County officials in Hilo as ballot security and chain-of-custody concerns sharpened ahead of the next election. Big Island voters already have free ballot-tracking alerts, but local operations remain under scrutiny.
Governor Josh Green and Chief Election Officer Scott Nago met with Hawaii County officials in Hilo on Saturday to focus on mail-ballot security, chain-of-custody protocols, election infrastructure and emergency management before the next election cycle.
Since the Legislature expanded mail balloting beginning with the 2020 election, the state has relied on a vote-by-mail system meant to provide secure, accessible and convenient service statewide. On Hawaii Island, where election offices must serve both Hilo and Kailua-Kona across a much larger land area than most counties, the logistics of moving and tracking ballots carry added weight.
Hawaii County’s election office is responsible for federal, state and county elections, voter registration, voter education and absentee voting. That work is handled through county operations in Hilo and at the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kona, making the island’s election system dependent on clear procedures for collecting, moving and safeguarding ballots from one end of the county to the other.
Some members of the State of Hawaii Elections Commission have called for a return to in-person voting, while election-rights advocates and lawmakers have pushed back against rolling back universal mail voting. Common Cause Hawaii and other defenders of the current system warned that changes could create confusion for voters who have used mail ballots for years.
Nago said the possibility of a federal court fight could spill into Hawaii’s November 3, 2026 general election. On July 9, he told lawmakers he could not realistically imagine a court overturning a July 1 ruling affecting mail voting nationwide before voters go to the polls. The Office of Elections continues to list Green and Lieutenant Governor Keith Regan as incumbents for the 2026 cycle.
For Hawaii voters who want another layer of oversight, the state offers free ballot-tracking notifications that update mail-ballot status and send deadline reminders.
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