Familiar voice
By B.J. Reyes
It’s Neighborhood Board election time, and if you live in a subdistrict with a contested race, you already know that voting in this year’s contests is being done exclusively online and by telephone.
A company called Everyone Counts won the bid to carry out the all-digital election. One of their consultants is a familiar face to Hawaii elections: Bob Watada, the former executive director of the Campaign Spending Commission.
Everyone Counts CEO Lori Steele says the company conducts elections all over the world, and prides itself in having staff with elections experience at the local level.
“If we don’t happen to have someone on staff that’s local, we immediately hire someone local so we can learn customs, or we can learn things that are appropriate to the voters and special needs that communities or voters have,” she said. “We hired Bob to help us with that.”
Watada, who is retired and lives with his wife in Oregon, agreed to come on board for a few months.
Aside from advising and lobbying, Watada also is the recorded voice that you will hear if you use the telephone system for voting.
(We kind of think it would be funny if former Mayor Jeremy Harris or attorney William McCoriston were unable to vote online — for whatever reason — thus forcing them to call in and be greeted by a recording of none other than Watada.) 
