A special election will be held in April to fill the Council District 3 Windward O'ahu seat on the Honolulu City Council left vacant by Barbara Marshall, who died Feb. 22 after a battle with colon cancer.

April special election to fill Marshall's
Windward O'ahu Council District 3 seat

Read more about the District 3 special election – including a short survey of all the candidates – in the April issue of Ka Wai Ola.

Ka Wai Ola Loa staff

Windward O'ahu residents will cast their votes next month in a special mail-in election to decide who will replace the late Barbara Marshall on the Honolulu City Council.

Eleven candidates – including eight Native Hawaiians – are running for the District 3 seat encompassing Waimānalo, Kailua and parts of Kāne'ohe. The candidates are:

• Paul Akau
• J. Ikaika Anderson
• Tracy Nakano Bean
• John Henry Felix
• Wilson Kekoa Ho
• Steve Holmes
• Leona Mapuana Kalima
• Keoki Leong
• Sol Nalua'i
• Tom Pico Jr.
• Pohai Ryan

The city will automatically mail a ballot to all registered voters in the district, which voters should receive sometime during the first week in April, said acting City Clerk Bernice Mau. The city aims to mail out the ballots to the approximately 55,000 registered voters on March 31.

Two walk-in polling sites will be open April 6 to 21, but voters are encouraged to mail their ballots in, Mau said. The walk-in sites at City Hall and Pali Golf Course will offer electronic voting only, and is designed for those with disabilities or impairments, she said. The sites will also accept dropoffs of completed ballots.

The polling sites will be open April 6 to 21, Monday through Saturday, from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It will be closed on Sundays and the April 10 holiday.

No polling places will be open on April 23, the last day of the election. Ballots will also be accepted April 23 until 6 p.m. at the city clerk's office on the first floor of City Hall. The April 23 deadline is not a postmark deadline but a deadline for receipt, Mau said, "We have to have it in our hands April 23."

Eligible voters who are not registered to vote may do so by March 24 online at honoluluelections.us. Absentee ballots may be requested online for those who will be away from home.

Election results will be announced the evening of April 23. The earliest a candidate can take office is May 14, which would allow for the 20-day challenge period required by law.

Marshall died Feb. 22 after a battle with colon cancer. The last time the city held a special election to fill a City Council vacancy was in 2002, after Andy Mirikitani resigned after being convicted of a federal crime, Mau said.