Rep. Jill Tokuda on voter wait times: ‘We did not meet the moment’

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, expressed her concern for a functional Congress and emphasized the importance of bipartisan cooperation, especially when it comes to disaster aid in an interview on air with Hawaii News Now.
“This is going to be the biggest election in any of our lifetimes,” Tokuda said.
In light of limited voting locations across the state, paired with residents lining up to vote after work and commuting up to an hour to cast their ballots, Tokuda suggested more voting locations open in the future.
“Honestly, we need to be prepared to make sure that every person’s vote can be accepted,” Tokuda said.
“The fact that we’ve got hours and hours of lines ahead of us, we did not meet the moment the way we should have, given what we knew it could have happened tonight,” she said.
Despite having a divided Congress, Tokuda discussed the importance of uniting as one during disasters, no matter which side of the political aisle they’re on.
“We are going to have to make sure we work across that aisle. Especially in cases of needing disaster aid for our communities like Lahaina and Maui as a whole,” she said.
Tokuda said the country needs to start operating “as one United States of America” and until this point, the country has been too divided. Tokuda believes no single party can do it all alone and advocated for a focus on people rather than party politics.
“To be able to work together to get things done for this country, I think it’s got to be less about party. It’s got to be about people. How to put people over politics,” she said.
With the potential for a second Trump administration and Project 2025 agenda on the horizon, Tokuda talked about what that could mean for Hawaii’s education and health care systems.
“These could have disastrous consequences for Hawaii, and he has said he will be vindictive, and I think that is a scary thing for many of us given that, as we talked about, Hawaii is a fairly blue state,” she said.
“I think there are many that fear, ‘What does he mean?’ when he talks about the retribution he’s said will happen the day after he is sworn into office. That’s a huge issue for Hawaii,” Tokuda said.
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