For years, Hawaii has lagged behind every other state when it comes to voter participation. But that changed two years ago, when the state debuted voting by mail. That year, participation reached 51 percent, a 17-point jump from 2016. After this weekend, we’ll know whether the new system also boosts turnout in midterm primaries.
Voters in Hawaii have been filling out ballots for about two weeks, selecting nominees for the Senate, the House, governor and other state and local offices. The voting period ends Saturday, when mailed ballots are due and those who choose to vote in person head to voting centers.
As of Tuesday, about a quarter of the ballots sent to all registered voters had been completed and returned to election officials.
Term-limited Gov. David Ige’s exit has created a cascade of openings. Lt. Gov. Josh Green is the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination, creating an opening for his current post. Running a distant second is Rep. Kai Kahele, who is also vacating her seat in a bid for the top job in the state. Ten Republicans are battling for their party’s nomination.
Sen. Brian Schatz is expected to cruise to victory in the Democratic primary and then easily win reelection in November.
Republicans rarely win high-level elections in Hawaii. Only two Republicans have served as governor and two as lieutenant governor (the most recently in 2010). The state hasn’t had a Republican senator since 1977, and Charles Djou was the only Republican to represent Hawaii in the House, serving one term in 2010-11.
Hawaii conducts an open primary, meaning registered voters can cast a ballot for candidates in the party of their choice.
The biggest change to Hawaii’s election laws in recent years was, of course, the switch to a proactive vote-by-mail system prior to the 2020 election.
Last year, lawmakers made an additional change, requiring each county to open at least one voting center during a 10-day early voting period. Country clerks are also required to publicize such details as hours and locations for voter centers and ballot drop boxes.
In 2021, lawmakers also voted to combine online and same-day voter registration systems to make it easier for people to vote, and people were given more time to register to vote.
The only election-related law enacted in 2022 requires ballot packaging to include instructions for voters who need assistance in other languages.
Read more about election law changes in Hawaii.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.