EC Gets it Wrong

Enterprise Community board attempts to set voting results straight with misinformation.

On March 6, the Molokai Enterprise Community (EC) Board of Directors attempted to respond to what they call “numerous misstatements of facts” regarding the recent EC elections. EC Board President Stacy Crivello and EC Executive Director Abbey Mayer issued a press release (shown below) in an attempt to set the Molokai community straight.

The problem is that the information included in the EC press release is misleading and inaccurate. The press release compares voter turnout numbers between the recent EC election and the 2006 General Election. But the numbers that the EC uses are in error because they include outer island vote totals from the 2006 General Election. The document also fails to identify any of the alleged “numerous misstatements of facts” that the release is said to clarify.

The Molokai Dispatch has added “In Error” tags next to the inaccurate information in the EC press release. An explanation of why the EC’s information is inaccurate is contained in the notes provided by the Dispatch following the press release. The Dispatch hopes these corrections will clear things up once and for all.

EC PRESS RELEASE:

Molokai EC Clarifies Election Results

Kaunakakai, HI, March 6, 2007 – In response to numerous public misstatements of facts, Ke Aupuni Lokahi Inc., the Molokai Enterprise Community (EC) Governance Board of Directors would like to clarify the following information regarding the EC elections of January 31, 2007 as compared with the 2006 General Elections:

1. EC Board of Directors Elections — Jan. 31, 2007

TOTAL TURNOUT: 1284 Voters

2. General Elections 2006 — Nov. 7, 2006

Precincts Registration Turnout

Kilohana 590 196

Kaunakakai 2073 585

Maunaloa 349 114

Kualapuu 1097 375

SUB-TOTALS 4109 1270*

Kalaupapa 56 29(mail)

Absentee Mail-in 1276-(In Error#1)

Absentee Walk-in 719-(In Error#2)

TOTALS 4165 3294 (In Error#3)

The Molokai EC applauds the Molokai community for its turnout in the EC elections. This turnout of 1284 voters represents 39% of the turnout in the 2006 General Election for Molokai (In Error#4), and 31% of the total registered voters on Molokai.

***End of EC Press Release***

Explanation of inaccurate information contained in EC press release:

#1: The total 1,276 absentee ballots shown in the EC press release is not applicable to Molokai. Though the total includes some absentee ballots from Molokai, it also includes absentee ballots received from voters on Lanai, and in Hana, Keanae, Huelo, Haiku and Paia on Maui.

#2: The total 719 absentee walk-in ballots shown in the EC press release is not applicable to just Molokai as it includes votes from Lanai, Hana, Keanae, Huelo, Haiku and Paial.

#3: The 3,294 total voter turnout that the EC claims are Molokai numbers, would mean that there was a 79% voter turnout in the 2006 General Election. Unfortunately, this is an inaccurate assumption because the 3,294 number includes votes from Lanai and Maui.

#4: The EC statement that “the turnout of 1,284 voters (for the EC election) represents 39% of the turnout in the 2006 General Election for Molokai” is inaccurate because the EC’s total Molokai voter turnout figure of 3,294 includes voters from Lanai and from Maui as described above.

So what are the facts about the election and the election results? The following facts about the election have been printed in one or more of the Molokai newspapers and to our knowledge are all accurate:

FACT ONE: The January 31, 2007 election and its results were professionally monitored by representatives from the League of Women Voters.

FACT TWO: More Molokai residents (1,284) turned out to vote on the day of the EC election than turned out to vote on election day in last year’s general election (1,270).

FACT THREE: The election was to fill two EC board seats which had been held by Claude Sutcliff and OHA Trustee, Colette Machado. Both board members, along with Cheryl Corbiell, ran in the 2007 EC election clearly stating their support for the La`au development. Challengers, Bridgett Mowat and Leila Stone, focused their campaign on alternatives to the La`au development.

The recap below shows that the two top vote getters, Mowat and Stone, won by more than a 2 to 1 margin.

Bridgett Mowat NO TO DEVELOPMENT AT LA`AU POINT 871

Leila Stone NO TO DEVELOPMENT AT LA`AU POINT 812

Colette Machado SUPPORTS DEVELOPMENT AT LA`AU 374

Cheryl Corbiel l SUPPORTS DEVELOPMENT AT LA`AU 286

Note: Claude Sutcliffe did not finish in the top four but did receive 130 votes

FACT FOUR: The EC election was as much about the public voting down the La`au development as it was about voting in new EC board members as evidenced by the extraordinary turnout. Only 103 Molokai residents turned out to vote in the 2006 EC election, which was before the proposed La`au development had become a high-profile issue. 1,284 voters turned out for 2007 EC election when the development became a major community concern. The landslide vote reflecting more than a 2 to 1 margin, clearly indicates the community’s position of non-development at La`au Point.

CORRECTION: The Molokai Dispatch did report that 1,170 people turned out to vote at last year’s General Election. That number, as noted above, should have been 1,270. The Dispatch apologizes for the typographical error. However, the total does not alter the fact that more voters turned out at the EC election (1,284) than turned out to vote on election day in last year’s General Election.

As for the assertion of “numerous misstatements of facts,”- in the interest of transparency and fairness- The Molokai Dispatch invites Crivello and other EC Board members to identify these misstatements for the public’s consideration at their next Board meeting on March 15.