HONOLULU (AP) - The state Office of Elections reports 55.7 percent of Hawaii's 690,748 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday's general election.
The turnout was higher than the 52.7 percent posted in 2006, the last time island voters chose a governor.
But it paled in comparison to the 66 percent turnout achieved in the 2008 general election, which featured Hawaii's born-and-bred Barack Obama running for president.
Election officials say absentee voting accounted for 23.6 percent of the votes cast in this year's general election.
That's up from 19 percent in September's primary election, but below the 25.4 percent reported in the general election two years ago.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
