Student Voting Guide | Hawaii
Registration
http://hawaii.gov/elections/ (registration form available online)
Registration closes at 4:30 p.m. 30 days before Election Day.[1] If you register by mail, you must postmark your application by this deadline.[2] Hawaii has preregistration, which means you may register to vote if you are 16, and your registration will be activated when you turn 18.[3] You may vote in a primary election if you will be 18 by the next general election.[4]
Residency
At School. Students who have a present intent to make Hawaii their permanent home can establish residency in their college communities. The Secretary of State’s office has also stated that a present intent to make Hawaii your residence is sufficient to establish residency for voting purposes.[5] Residency for voting equals domicile in Hawaii.[6] Under Hawaiian law, your voting residence is your fixed, permanent home, the place where you intend to return after being away.[7] To gain Hawaiian residency for elections, you must move to the state with the dual intention of abandoning your former home and establishing a permanent home in Hawaii.[8]
At Home. Students who lived in Hawaii before moving to another state for school, and who wish to establish or keep their Hawaii voting residency (i.e. at the parents’ address), should have no problem doing so unless they have already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Hawaii allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the county or state to attend school. The only way you might lose this residency is if you “abandon” it by asserting residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered an abandonment of residency in Hawaii, some judges or officials might view it as such. Under Hawaii law, casting a ballot in another state is an abandonment of Hawaii residency[9], and students who have voted in other states will have to re-establish Hawaii residency before voting there.
Challenges to Residency. The county clerk has the initial discretion to approve or disapprove your registration on the basis of your residency, and can demand that you show proof of your residency.[10] If the clerk refuses to register you, you can appeal to the county board of registration.[11] You can then appeal any decision by the county board in court within 10 days.[12]
Any registered voter may challenge your registration by submitting a challenge in writing stating the reasons for the challenge to the county clerk.[13] The clerk must notify you that your registration has been challenged and will investigate and rule on the challenge.[14] You may appeal an adverse decision to the board of registration.[15] You can then appeal any decision by the county board in court within 10 days.[16]
Any registered voter can also challenge your eligibility on the basis of residency on Election Day.[17] The challenge will be decided immediately by officials at the polling place; if they decide you are not eligible, you can still cast a challenged ballot and appeal their decision to the county board of registration.[18] You can then appeal any decision by the county board in court within 10 days.[19]
Identification
Voting officials have the authority to request ID from any voter on Election Day.[20] Although state law does not specify what form that identification should take, the Secretary of State’s web site instructs voters to bring a picture ID that includes a signature to the polls.[21] Student ID will be accepted for this requirement, but separate confirmation of your address will be required.[22]
First-time voters who register by mail must also either submit a copy of their identification with their registration or be prepared to show ID at the polls or to submit a copy with their absentee ballot.[23] You can provide a current and valid photo ID, including a student ID, or a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or government document that shows your name and address.[24] Cell phone bills and online printouts will both be accepted.[25]
Absentee Voting
http://hawaii.gov/elections/forms/absentee_application.pdf
Any registered voter may vote absentee in Hawaii.[26] Your absentee ballot request must be received by your county clerk by 4:30 p.m. 7 days before Election Day.[27] Blank applications are available online at the web site of the Hawaii Office of Elections at the above link. If you do not receive your ballot within 5 days of the election, you can request it to be sent to you by fax and then return it by fax as well.[28] Ballots must be received before polls close on Election Day.[29]
Early Voting
As a convenience to voters, Hawaii has early voting which begins ten working days before an election and ends on the Saturday before Election Day.[30] At early voting sites, you can vote any precinct’s ballot for that county. If you do not consider your school address to be your permanent address, or if you have not changed your residence yet, then early voting provides an opportunity to vote a ballot at the residence from which you are absent. You should contact your local clerk’s office for locations and hours.
Last Updated in April 2010
[1] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-24(a) (West 2009).
[2] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-16(a); Hawaii Office of Elections, “Voter Registration,” available at http://hawaii.gov/elections/voters/registration.htm.
[3] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-12(b).
[4] FairVote, “Voter Age and Registration,” available at http://www.fairvote.org/youth-preregistration-fact-sheet/.
[5] Interview with Noe Deleon, Voter Services, Hawaii Office of Elections (June 12, 2008).
[6] See Op. Att’y Gen. No. 86-10 (Haw. 1986).
[7] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-13(1) (West 2009).
[8] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-13(2).
[9] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-13(7).
[10] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-15(c).
[11] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-26.
[12] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-51(effective July 1, 2010).
[13] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-25(a) (West 2009).
[14] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-25(a) (West 2009).
[15] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-25(c).
[16] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-51(effective July 1, 2010).
[17] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-25(b).
[18] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-25(c).
[19] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-51(effective July 1, 2010).
[20] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11-136.
[21] Voting in Hawaii, Hawaii Secretary of State, http://hawaii.gov/elections/voters/votehi.htm (last visited Feb. 18, 2010). A Voter Registration Notice will not be an acceptable form of ID. Id.
[22] Interview with Noe Deleon, Voter Services, Hawaii Office of Elections (June 12, 2008).
[23] http://hawaii.gov/elections/voters/registration.htm (last visited on April 30, 2010).
[24] Although Hawaii has no statutes or regulations that implement HAVA, the state’s policy is described on its voter registration form. http://hawaii.gov/elections/forms/voter_application.pdf (last visited on April 30, 2010).
[25] Interview with Noe Deleon, Voter Services, Hawaii Office of Elections (June 12, 2008).
[26] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15-2 (West 2009).
[27] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15-4(a).
[28] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15-5(b).
[29] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15-9(a).
[30] Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15-7; see also National Association of Secretary of States, Early Voting Dates and Absentee Ballot Request Deadlines for the 2010 General Election, available at http://nass.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=223&Itemid=391.
