The first batch of mail-in ballots arrived at the state Capitol on Monday to be counted for the Aug. 8 party primary elections, with volunteers representing both Republicans and Democrats vouching for the security of how they’re handled inside the Capitol, as President Donald Trump continues to sow doubts over U.S. elections.

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The first batch of mail-in ballots arrived at the state Capitol on Monday to be counted for the Aug. 8 party primary elections, with volunteers representing both Republicans and Democrats vouching for the security of how they’re handled inside the Capitol, as President Donald Trump continues to sow doubts over U.S. elections.

Some 80 volunteers signed up to work two shifts at the Capitol on the first day of counting.

All of those who spoke to the Honolulu Star-­Advertiser — whether veteran volunteers of over 20 years or relative newcomers — said they’ve never seen any indication of fraud or tampering while ballots are driven in a van to the Capitol, where they’re opened in a guarded and secure room on the third floor and then taken under lock and key in metal cages to the Senate floor, where they’re fed into machines that are monitored by election observers.

Volunteer Jamie Detwiler, a Republican who lost to former state Rep. Ryan Yamane, a Democrat, in the 2022 general election for the Waipio-­Mililani seat in the House, vouched Monday for how ballots are handled once they arrive at the Capitol after she volunteered for the first time in 2024.

“I’ve never seen any problems in the counting here,” Detwiler said while waiting for ballots to arrive. “I’ve never seen any issue at the counting center.”

But she continues to question why different counties have different ways of handling ballots before they’re sent to the Capitol for counting. Detwiler also worries about the security of dropoff ballot locations around the state but did not offer any evidence of tampering.

Outside the counting of ballots at the Capitol, she said, “there are no observers watching at the dropboxes. There are areas of improvement in the chain of custody.”

In 2022, Detwiler called for an audit following her loss to Yamane because, she said, the first printout of election results had her 70% ahead but she ultimately lost once all the votes were counted. The audit took months and ultimately validated the election results, which had Yamane winning with 7,340 votes compared to 3,833 for Detwiler.

Yamane, the former director of the state Department of Human Services, was indicted Friday by an Oahu Circuit Court grand jury, along with Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and three others, on bribery and conspiracy charges.

Detwiler declined to say whether she supports Trump or his ongoing claims of widespread voter fraud as he pushes Congress to impose tighter restrictions, such as requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote ahead of this year’s November mid-term elections.

“We should have full transparent elections for the United States,” she said. “Citizens should have ID.”

And she and others continue to raise concerns before the state Elections Commission about the need for more in-person voting centers, along with questions about how the U.S. Postal Service tracks Hawaii’s mail-in ballots.

In 2024, she rode in a van delivering ballots to the Capitol and said security remained tight throughout the entire process at the Capitol. But she wants more assurances about how ballots are treated at each county level and through the U.S. Postal Service.

Without providing evidence, Detwiler said flatly, “It’s not secure.”

Most of the volunteers who spoke to the Star-­Advertiser on Monday are retirees or nearing retirement. Reiko Stivers, 58, volunteered for the first time Monday to see for herself.

“There’s a lot of speculation about voter fraud,” she said. “Don’t believe the sensational.”

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Stivers leans Democrat but voted for Linda Lingle, who became Hawaii’s first Republican governor since statehood and served two terms in 2002 and 2006.

Stivers said she was encouraged to volunteer by a friend who talked to her about doing her civic duty, along with the fringe benefits of a choice of three lunches — on Monday it was club sandwiches, salads or bentos — plus a $95 stipend for working on the first day and $35 for each subsequent shift.

Stivers waited outside the secure, third-floor room where ballots are unsealed, flattened and then stacked in bins for transport down to the Senate floor.

Mike Kerr, 72, wore a bright-green “HIVOTED” T-shirt designating him as an election observer monitoring other volunteers to ensure everything goes as it should.

“We’re the eyes and ears of the public,” Kerr said. “We’re here to observe the custody and integrity of the process.”

Over his more than 20 years as a volunteer, Kerr has seen suggestions from other volunteers get adopted, such as changes in procedure as Hawaii converted from mostly in-person voting to mostly mail-in voting.

New volunteers are often “skeptical and think there’s something there,” he said. After spending time watching ballots opened and counted at the Capitol, Kerr said, they walk away knowing “they’re secure.”

But hard-core skeptics often turn their suspicions on other links in the chain of custody before the ballots get to the Capitol.

“They throw out accusations of, ‘Well, maybe … ,’” suggesting there may be unspecified problems somewhere else, Kerr said.

Inside the Capitol, all of the volunteers’ cellphones, bags and personal items are stored in the Capitol basement before volunteers go up to the third floor to unseal ballots. There is no time for volunteers to read individual ballots and no way to hide any that a volunteer may disagree with.

“Our ballots are quite secure,” said volunteer Laura Nakasone, 78, of Wahiawa, who joked she couldn’t remember how many times she’s volunteered. “There’s no time to sit there and see who voted for whom.”

Mililani resident Ginger Enomoto, 78, was volunteering for her second election cycle and was accompanied by about a dozen other members of the Hawaii chapter of the education-focused Alpha Delta Kappa sorority, which has 12 chapters on Oahu and 16 statewide.

Enomoto said she and the other members plan to again donate their volunteer stipends to the sorority and that she enjoys working “with my sisters.”

As for the security of ballots, she said: “Everything looks like it’s run securely. I feel very comfortable that everything’s done the right way and I’m glad to participate.”

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