Recount shows no changes in 2 tight Hawaii races

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A recount of votes for two Republican primary races went late into the night Tuesday.

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The automatic recount was triggered following results so close that one contest was separated by a single vote.

The initial results were announced at 10 p.m., showing no changes in either race.

In the Senate District 20 Republican primary, incumbent Kurt Fevella fell seven votes behind challenger Bob McDermott. In the race for House District 43, incumbent Kanani Souza beat challenger Sheila Medeiros for the party’s nomination by just one vote.

Under state law, any race that falls within a half a percentage point is automatically recounted.

Hawaii News Now political analyst Colin Moore called the margin in House races historically narrow.

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“We’ve seen some very, very close elections, single-digit elections,” Moore said. “I can’t remember one where there was just one vote.”

Even though the recount is completed, results will not be final until Friday. Ballots with signature discrepancies must still be resolved or cured.

“If their signature doesn’t match or they’re missing a signature, those ballots are what we call invalid ballots. They’re not counted,” Nago told HNN ahead of Tuesday’s recount. “Voters are then notified and they have till Friday (at) 4:30 p.m. to either sign it or fix the problem. And then once that’s done, we will add those into the count.”

Depending on the county, signatures could be resolved in person, at the county clerk’s office, or online.

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