HONOLULU -- The state Office of Elections apologized for misprinted mail-in absentee ballots that went out to about 1,600 absentee voters this week.

Residents from Kailua, Waimanalo and part of Hawaii Kai started receiving the absentee ballots in the mail Thursday that excluded the state senate race for district 25.

Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago urged affected voters to disregard the first ballot they receive in the mail. A second batch of corrected ballots is scheduled to be mailed out Friday.

“We apologize for the inconvenience. It’s unfortunate. But we are correcting the situation. It’s just a misprint. They misprinted the wrong file,” Nago said.

Nago said the mainland printing company, Hart Intercivic, admitted the error. Nago said the company will absorb the cost of the reprinting and second mailing.

Nago said representatives from each political party examine the sample ballots. “It did not affect the facsimile ballots which they looked at. It was strictly through the mail ballots,” Nago said.

Nago urged absentee mail-in voters in district 25 to disregard the first ballot and wait for the second, corrected ballot.

“We ask that they look out for that ballot and vote on that ballot,” Nago said.

If affected voters have already mailed back the misprinted ballot, the system will flag that ballot and set it aside. The first ballot will be replaced when the voter sends in the second ballot.

Nago promises the elections office will take action to ensure affected voters mail back the correct ballot and every vote is counted. “We’ll make every effort to try to contact the voter to urge them to vote the second ballot,” Nago said.

Even so, Nago does not feel the error will impact the election. “We don’t think it will because it’s such a small, 1,600 voters,” Nago said.

Senate candidates in district 25 aren’t so sure. “If the race is close, and I predict it will be, every vote is going to count,” said democratic candidate and long-time Waimanalo Neighborhood Board member Andrew Jamila.

“If this in any way changes the results, that would a really, really terrible thing,” said democratic candidate and Kailua Neighborhood Board member Chuck Prentiss.

“For a first time candidate like myself, to put your belief that the system will work for you when your time comes, it’s not too reassuring,” Jamila said.

Republican candidate and small business owner Joe “The Builder” Pandolfe is concerned about the error, because he believes his strength is in Hawaii Kai, which is partially affected by the misprinted ballots.

“It’s a really big mistake and it really affects me because this is my voting base. It’s huge. It’s huge. It really is huge. It could make or break me in the primary,” Pandolfe said.

Republican candidate and Kailua Neighborhood Board member Virginia Enos said she’s also concerned about the misprint, but she wants to move on.

“I just hope that this highlights the situation for all the voters, and through that highlight, we’ll get more people to turn out for the vote and have a fair process,” Enos said.

“As a small business owner, if I make a mistake like this, I won’t be in business very long,” Pandolfe said.

Democrat Pohai Ryan did not return KITV4’s phone calls.