a historic day for hawaii and for the hawaii democratic party.  i’m glad and proud to say i was a part of it.

i arrived at my caucus place just before 6pm, to help get people signed up and signed in.  i knew things would be hectic, but i had no idea….  when i arrived, they had already started signing people in and there were easily 100 people in line.  i jumped right in, doing what i could to ensure things went smoothly.  unfortunately, there was little chance of that.

across the state, voting was scheduled to commence at 7pm, and so it did in palolo.  before we were finished with the caucus voting (still have district and precinct meetings to conduct) 830pm had passed and over 1000 people had come and gone.  in my precinct alone, nearly 200 people voted.  in the whole district four years ago, only 140 people turned up.

we ran out of party membership forms.

we ran out of voter registration forms.

we ran out of ballots.

we ran out of sign-in sheets.

four years ago, the total number of people who turned out to the caucuses was approximately 4000.  last night the figure was close to TEN TIMES THAT, 37426.  one friend of mine described it as ‘the perfect storm’ (not like the movie).  for my part, only two words come to mind: insane and historic.

finally, after things quieted down and the droves vacated the premises, the precinct and district elections began.  without much fan fair, i’m proud to say, i am a delegate to the state convention (again), the new president of my precinct, and 2nd vice-chair of my district.  none of these actually mean much (though i guess they could if i wanted), but i’m still young enough in the game that i still think it’s kinda cool.

i’ll also be running for the male state central committee seat in my district at convention.  i’ll let you know how it goes.

with the voting concluded in palolo, i departed and made my way to party HQ to help with the voting as the preliminary results came in.  i didn’t do much other than double check the work of others, but i enjoyed the experience all the same.  i have to say, it was SO COOL to be on the inside, seeing the results BEFORE the press reported them.  it may seem like a little thing, but i feel lucky and honored to have had the opportunity (there was security, so they weren’t just letting anyone in).

the last district numbers came in just after midnight.  those of us who remained, celebrated, talked story about the night’s events and eventually made our way home.  after a long and exhausting day, i crawled into bed a little before 2am.

thanks to everyone who turned out to participate for your enthusiasm and patience.  and thanks to those who helped keep the unanticipated chaos under control.  it was certainly a night to remember.