There are so many reasons to cringe about the dawn of the new campaign season, it's hard to know where to begin.

The worst part is that the voters are the biggest losers in Hawai'i's latest political upheaval, centered on a City Council and state House seat. It's a disaster that will boost neither public confidence in elections, nor, in at least two races, voter choice.

The first domino fell when Ann Kobayashi decided at the last minute to leave the City Council and run for mayor. That led to a scramble to fill a seat on the council, and, when state Rep. Kirk Caldwell threw his hat in the council ring, a vacant seat in the state House.

Challenges and general uproar ensued. The final result: City Clerk Denise De Costa disqualified Caldwell from running, finding that he failed to withdraw legally from the House race. This leaves former council member Duke Bainum the unopposed claimant of the council seat.

Over in the state House, Chrystn Eads missed the deadline to run for Caldwell's seat, and the Democratic Party was given a chance to name Isaac Choy, a Manoa accountant, as a replacement. That raised eyebrows among the Republicans, who believe the Democratic slot in the primary should have remained vacant.

Rather than help to untangle things, the state's chief elections officer, Kevin Cronin, has made things worse. The latest misstep was his failure to give candidates and party leaders a chance to review the draft ballot before printing.

Although state law merely requires the ballot to be "available for viewing," Cronin should have made certain political contenders had that chance, by giving them notice before ballots were printed.

Party officials are right to complain. Cronin would have been smarter to wait until the current challenges played out. As it is, taxpayers are at risk of being hit with the bill for reprinting ballots.

Once the dust finally clears, state leaders should find ways to clarify rules governing elections, and to encourage, rather than suppress, participation in the political process.