Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 3 - DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND GENERAL SERVICES › Office of Elections › Chapter 177 - RULES OF THE OFFICE OF ELECTIONS › Subchapter 2 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 3-177-56 - Receipt, filing, or accessibility of election documents

Current through June, 2024
(a) Assuming a document is returned in the
				  manner authorized by election officials, the nature of the document and the
				  totality of the circumstances will determine when it is considered received,
				  filed, or accessible for election purposes.
(b) The receipt of a document is merely a
				  ministerial notation of when a document was received and is not the equivalent
				  of a determination that the document is in proper order and can be counted in
				  the context of a ballot, filed in the context of a nomination paper or similar
				  document, or the applicant treated as registered in the context of a voter
				  registration application. To the extent a document is initially received and
				  subsequently found not to meet filing requirements, it may be returned to the
				  individual to obtain the necessary signatures or to-otherwise be corrected
				  before being resubmitted. For example, if a candidate submits a nomination
				  paper and it is subsequently determined that it does not have the required
				  amount of verified signatures, the candidate may be provided the document back
				  so they can obtain sufficient signatures and resubmit the document by the
				  filing deadline.
(c) The filing of
				  a document occurs to the extent the underlying statute refers to filing and the
				  election official determines that the document submitted for filing meets the
				  statutory or administrative rule requirement for filing. If a document
				  submitted for filing does not satisfy the requirements for filing it will not
				  be considered filed. Similarly, if it is considered to have met the
				  requirements of filing it will be considered filed at the time of receipt. An
				  initial indication that a document has been filed does not preclude it from
				  being determined not to have met the requirements for filing. In such a case,
				  any such document may be considered void ab initio and not considered filed
				  (i.e., void from the beginning).
(d) Generally documents may be received
				  during the hours established by the chief election officer or county clerks,
				  with the understanding election officials can adjust hours. Additionally, the
				  county clerk, or chief election officer may receive documents at any location.
				  As it relates to the online voter registration system or any other electronic
				  system operated by the chief election officer, or the county clerks, which may
				  operate otherwise outside of normal work hours the document will be deemed
				  filed upon receipt unless determined otherwise. Documents delivered after
				  normal work hours may be treated as received as of the next business
				  day.
(e) A voter standing in line
				  at a place of. deposit or voter service center at the closing, time provided in
				  HRS §
										11-131
				  with the intent to return a ballot and casting a vote shall be allowed to vote.
				  This does not preclude a voter from otherwise standing in line at any other
				  location established by an election official by the closing time provided in
				  HRS §
										11-131
				  with the intent of returning a ballot and casting a vote from being allowed to
				  vote (e.g., the county clerk may establish a receiving area for ballots in the
				  parking lot of a county building, as opposed to requiring voters to go into a
				  county building to get to the voter service center).
(f) As it relates to matters covered by
				  federal law, receipt shall he determined by the applicable federal
				  law.