City Hall's neighborhood board elections got under way yesterday with the Neighborhood Commission Office mailing 235,000 paper ballots to registered voters in neighborhood board districts and subdistricts that have contested races.

Voters may opt to fill out the paper ballots and return them by mail. Also, this year, for the first time, registered voters will also have the option of voting online. Votes may use the secure, 10-digit voter number that comes with the paper ballot to vote at www.nbvote.com.

Voters in districts or subdistricts where there are no contested seats or no candidates may also vote online.

In the past, mail-only elections ballots were not sent to registered voters in districts that had no contests.

With this year's advent of online voting, even voters in no-contest districts may participate. To vote, they may visit the Web site at www.nbvote.com and request a secure voter number.

"We encourage everyone to participate in these neighborhood board elections," Mayor Mufi Hannemann said in a news release issued today. "This is grassroots democracy in its purest form."

Elections for O'ahu's 32 neighborhood boards are held every two years. This year there are 505 candidates for the 444 seats, but only 306 seats are contested.

Candidate profiles and additional information about the neighborhood board system and the election are online at www.honolulu.gov/nco.

For assistance with online voting — including availability of computers to cast your votes or to request a secure voter number — visit the Neighborhood Commission offices at Honolulu Hale, Room 400, or at Kapolei Hale, Room 312.

Election-related dates: