WASHINGTON — Dan Akaka, the junior senator from Hawai'i, tops the state's senior senator, Daniel K. Inouye, in recorded votes so far this year, according to Gannett News Service research.

Age isn't a factor because both turned 83 in September, but Akaka, younger by four days, has missed only one vote compared with Inouye's 34 since the beginning of the congressional session in January, according to the research.

Akaka is in a select group of senators with the fewest missed votes this year. Eleven senators have not missed any of the 357 recorded votes so far and six, including Akaka, have missed only one.

"I feel that our votes are very, very important to our position here in the Senate and in helping Hawai'i and our country," Akaka said. "I want to be sure I can make a difference in whatever bill or amendment is being voted on."

Inouye's 34 missed votes put him eighth among senators missing the most votes. Five of the seven senators who missed more votes are presidential contenders, including Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with 90 missed votes. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., missed 32 votes.

"Sen. Inouye, who is one of the few senators to have cast nearly 15,000 votes, always tries his best to be available for every Senate vote, but at times there are circumstances that prevent him from doing so," said Mike Yuen, Inouye's spokesman.

Inouye, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, missed a series of votes twice in January and again in July when he wasn't in town, accounting for 25 of his 34 missed votes.

One reason is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the Senate into session in early January, a time that was traditionally a recess period, Yuen said.

"However, the senator had committed to obligations in Hawai'i that would have been difficult to break or meet without rushing back and forth from Washington in a short period of time," Yuen said.

During that period, Inouye missed nine recorded votes over four days. In late January, Inouye also missed 10 votes over three days when he was in Hawai'i for the Senate's Inter-Parliamentary Exchange program with members of China's National People's Congress.

"As the one who established the program, Sen. Inouye believes that the relations forged between American and Chinese lawmakers can play a crucial role in promoting stability and peace in the Asia-Pacific region," Yuen said.

Inouye, of Japanese descent, also missed another block of six votes in July when he was attending meetings of the board of governors in Los Angeles for the Japanese American National Museum. He is chairman of the board.

But Inouye's missed votes probably will not make a difference to the people in Hawai'i, who really don't pay much attention to what goes on in Washington, said Ira Rother, a political scientist at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

"Inouye is extraordinarily popular. He has very few enemies here," Rother said.

"Most of what you are seeing is him 'doing his job' and they (people in Hawai'i) don't see him being necessarily tied to doing it in Washington."

Akaka's only missed vote came on Aug. 1 when he was attending a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.

Committee members, including Akaka, were told that the vote would be held open as a courtesy for them so they could complete committee business.

But apparently there was a miscommunication, and the floor vote was closed with 12 of the committee's 17 members failing to have their vote recorded on an amendment to a small-business tax relief bill.

Their votes would not have made a difference in the outcome because the Senate rejected the amendment 58-26.

But Akaka and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., saw their perfect voting scores tumble because of the glitch.

"I felt cheated," Akaka chuckled. "I was very disappointed, but I've gotten over the feeling."

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.