HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state elections commission has voted to ask the legislature to ban mail-in and early voting and return to traditional in-person voting on Election Day.

The bipartisan commission, which is half Democrat and half Republican, voted 5-3 over several contentious meetings to recommend voting only on Election Day in person with ID required on paper ballots that would be hand counted in precincts.

Under the proposal, only military families and people with special needs would be allowed to vote absentee.

Republican concerns over verification

Republican commissioners said they have found discrepancies in mail-in voting and claim the movement of absentee ballots and envelopes from homes to post offices to counties for verification and to the state for counting has not been securely controlled or tracked.

“No one who is outside the system can verify the results,” said Lindsey Kamm.

Dylan Andrion said the commission is “going back to what works.”

There was also concern that the emphasis on mail-in balloting made it more difficult for people to vote in person at limited sites.

Commissioner Kahiolani Papalimu, from the Big Island, said, “being an incredibly rural island, I’d much prefer voting in our precincts, which is accessible to everyone in their area.”

Democrats dispute claims

Democrat commissioners and elections officials said the Republican claims are false and that there is no evidence of fraud or miscounting.

“It’s just ludicrous. There’s no basis for connecting this supposed unverifiable statement, which is false, to the need to go back to in person voting,” said Jeffrey Osterkamp.

Clare McAdam noted that in the 2024 election, 92.5% of voters voted by mail.

“It’s 92.5% of the state wants to vote by mail, and I think that’s very important that we bear in mind all the time when we consider this,” McAdam said.

Senate Judiciary chair Karl Rhoads, who would have jurisdiction over changing election law, said he believes the chances the legislature will approve the changes are zero.

“I don’t even know the last time that Hawaii had one-day voting,” Rhoads said.

Rhoads said he believes Republican commissioners are trying to undermine election confidence following President Trump’s lead.

“I think they’re doing what they think he’s asking him to do. I think it’s from the top. The irony, of course, is that Trump himself uses mail-in voting,” Rhoads said.

In addition to seeking to ban mail-in voting, Republican commissioners have repeatedly tried and failed to fire elections administrator Scott Nago and may try again Wednesday.