The lesson learned from the Hawai'i primary was, indeed, primary: Every vote counts.

A few votes would have made a difference to Kaua'i Mayor Bryan Baptiste. For an outright victory, Baptiste needed just a simple majority, or 50 percent plus one vote. The prospects for a runoff election depend on whether to count a number of spoiled ballots. It was left up to Kauai'i County officials to decide, in what was the closest race of the night.

Two other races with razor-thin margins further highlighted the individual power of voters. Mazie Hirono beat Colleen Hanabusa for the Democratic nomination for the 2nd Congressional District by just seven-tenths of a percentage point, or 836 votes.

The Republican side of the race was even closer. Bob Hogue slipped through with a victory over Quentin Kawananakoa by just 189 votes.

Overall, Saturday's voter turnout was good, but not impressive. With about 277,000 voters out of 665,741 registered voters, the turnout was 42.2 percent. It's a slight improvement from the 2004 primary, which drew 39.79 percent.

The general election, however, is the chance for redemption. In 2004, 66.7 percent of 647,238 voters turned out. But that happened during a presidential-election year.

The 2002 election year offers a better comparison. The primary turnout was 41.1 percent, but jumped to 57 percent in the November general election. That trend could — and should — happen again in 2006.

Voters need to do better, but so should the Office of Elections. The process had several glitches, with voters complaining about confusing instructions at the polling stations and long delays before results were released.

Our elections officials should look at how other states run their operations and adopt some of their best practices. And they should examine releasing more immediate results by precinct; those results could be validated later.

With just over a month left before the general, let's work the bugs out and make sure the system works efficiently.

You can register for the general election through Oct. 9. But don't stop there.

Democracy doesn't work unless registered voters actually go to the polls and vote — it's clear that your vote matters.