County clerk tells Elections Commission he sees no discrepancy as commissioners press for USPS receipts and SVRS logs

John Henricks, Hawaii County clerk, appeared before the Hawaii Elections Commission on May 6 to answer questions about reported discrepancies between county collection records and statewide counts for the 2024 election.

Several public testifiers and commissioners pressed Henricks for documentation that might reconcile the difference public speakers described as roughly 19,000 ballot envelopes. Henricks said the county provided “the hard copies that were readily retrievable” and that some USPS business-reply-mail (BRM) statements and invoices are available through a postal online portal rather than as daily hard-copy receipts. “There is no discrepancy,” Henricks told the commission when asked whether he had requested full BRM reports.

Public witnesses and commission members disputed that account. Election oversight advocate Doug Pasnick summarized the commission’s evidence of missing certifications and chain-of-custody records from 2022 and 2024, citing internal reviews and commission reports that found widespread gaps in observer signatures and custody logs. Pasnick said the missing documentation impedes independent verification and urged the commission to obtain all postal BRM receipts and SVRS exports.

Commissioners asked whether Henricks or his elections team had formally requested the full BRM receipts from USPS or downloaded the postal-account reports (often referred to as PostalOne or Postal 1). Henricks said he had not personally requested a full account printout and that his office provided the records it had on hand; he characterized the BRM statements as a billing tool not intended as the state’s reconciliation mechanism. He did offer to “consider” making a formal request for the portal reports after the meeting.

Several commissioners also asked whether county-level observers were present during ballot collection and signature verification. Henricks said counties had watchers at voter service centers and that the county had accommodated people who came to view signature verification, but he distinguished those viewers from the legally defined ‘‘observers’’ whose presence can affect process timing or approvals. He said the state-provided rules and the statewide voter registration system (SVRS) are the primary tools used for reconciliation.

Commissioners pressed repeatedly for more exportable evidence: daily SVRS envelope-processing logs, county transfer records showing when and how envelopes were moved to state counting centers, and formal USPS receipts tied to the business-reply mail account. Henricks said some records are available online through USPS accounts managed by his office and in county hard-copy files; he declined to commit immediately to obtaining a complete BRM export during the current meeting but said he would take the request under consideration.

The commission did not adopt a formal vote to compel production at the meeting. Commissioners said they will continue to request SVRS exports, transfer logs and postal-account reports so the permitted-interaction group and the wider body can attempt an independent reconciliation.

What’s next: Commissioners asked staff to gather and publish the procedural forms and to circulate the specific documentation they are seeking so the county can respond in writing and, if necessary, provide portal extracts from USPS for commission review.