Office of Elections launches online voter registration system

The state Office of Elections and Offices of the City/County Clerks announced today that residents are now able to register to vote online.

In 2012, the legislature passed HB1755 that required an electronic voter registration system to be set up for the 2016 primary election.

$500,000 was appropriated to build the system.

Governor Neil Abercrombie signed the bill into law (Act 225) on July 5, 2012.

The service is only open to residents with a Hawaii driver’s license or state ID, and allows voters to update their information and request a permanent absentee ballot.

The online system uses the same verification process as paper applications, which are still available for residents that do not have a driver’s license or state ID.

The online voter registration system can be found at https://olvr.hawaii.gov/.

You can find more information on this new service and voting in Hawaii at the Office of Election’s website at http://elections.hawaii.gov/.

---

KEY 2016 ELECTION DATES AND DEADLINES

• Candidate Filing February 1 – June 7, 2016
• Voter Registration Deadline – Primary Election July 14, 2016
• Early Walk-In Voting – Primary Election August 1 – August 11, 2016
• Last Day to Submit Absentee Mail Application – Primary Election August 6, 2016
• PRIMARY ELECTION August 13, 2016
• Voter Registration Deadline – General Election October 10, 2016
• Early Walk-In Voting – General Election October 25 – November 5, 2016
• Last Day to Submit Absentee Mail Application – General Election November 1, 2016
• GENERAL ELECTION November 8, 2016

---

§11-15 Application to register.
(a) Any person qualified to and desiring to register as a voter in any county shall make and subscribe to an application in the form of an affidavit.
The affidavit shall contain the following information:

(1) Name;
(2) Social security number;
(3) Date of birth;
(4) Residence, including mailing address;
(5) That the residence stated in the affidavit is not simply because of the person’s presence in the State, but that the residence was acquired with the intent to make Hawaii the person’s legal residence with all the accompanying obligations therein; and
(6) That the person is a citizen.

An application to register to vote shall include a space to request a permanent absentee ballot.

(b) The applicant shall swear to the truth of the allegations by self-subscribing affirmation in the affidavit on application for voter registration or other form prescribed by the chief election officer. Unless contested by a qualified voter, the clerk may accept, as prima facie evidence, the allegation of the applicant in information required in the affidavit in subsection (a)(5). In any other case where the clerk shall so desire or believe the same to be expedient, the clerk may demand that the applicant furnish substantiating evidence to the allegations of the applicant’s application.

(c) The applicant shall then affix the applicant’s signature to the affidavit. In the case where an applicant is unable to write for the reason of illiteracy, blindness, or other physical disability, the applicant’s mark shall be witnessed by another person who shall sign the affidavit in the space provided. A voter having once been registered shall not be required to register again for any succeeding election, except as provided in this chapter. Affidavits approved by the clerk shall thereupon be numbered appropriately, filed by the clerk, and kept available for election or government purposes in accordance with procedures established by section 11-97. Approved voter registration transactions conducted through the online voter registration system established pursuant to section 11-15.3 shall be assigned a transaction number in a manner that is substantially similar to the numbering of affidavits.

(d) The clerk may designate a subordinate or subordinates to act in the clerk’s place in all matters covered by this section, except that no candidate shall be eligible to serve as a subordinate. [L 1970, c 26, pt of §2; am L 1973, c 217, §1(f); am L 1974, c 34, §1(a); am L 1976, c 106, §1(4); am L 1979, c 196, §4; am L 1981, c 107, §1 and c 195, §1; gen ch 1985; am L 1989, c 111, §1; am L 1990, c 45, §§2, 3 and c 156, §6; am L 1998, c 23, §2; am L 2011, c 142, §1; am L 2012, c 225, §3]