Definitions

HRS §11-1

in effect

11-1. Definitions Whenever used in this title, the words and phrases in this title shall, unless the same is inconsistent with the context, be construed as follows: "Ballot" means a ballot, including an absentee ballot, that is a written or printed, or partly written and partly printed paper or papers containing the names of persons to be voted for, the office to be filled, and the questions or issues to be voted on. "Ballot" includes: (1) A ballot summary reflecting a complete record of the ballot selections made by a voter utilizing an HTML ballot or similar accessible ballot that produces a ballot summary; (2) A voter verifiable paper audit trail in the event there is a discrepancy between a voting machine's electronic record of the voted ballot and the voter verifiable paper audit trail; and (3) A ballot used in an election by mail pursuant to part VIIA, including a ballot approved for electronic transmission. A ballot may consist of one or more cards or pieces of paper, or one face of a card or piece of paper, or a portion of the face of a card or piece of paper, depending on the number of offices, candidates to be elected thereto, questions or issues to be voted on, and the voting system in use. "Ballot summary" means a complete record of ballot selections that is verified by the voter. "Business day" means any day excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and state or federal holidays. "Chief election officer", the individual appointed by the elections commission pursuant to section 11-1.6 to supervise state elections. "Clerk", the county clerks of the respective counties. "Closing hour of voting" means 7:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time on election day. "County", the counties of Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and the city and county of Honolulu, as the context may require. For the purposes of this title, the county of Kalawao shall be deemed to be included in the county of Maui. "District" means, unless otherwise specified, the district of political representation associated with a state representative. "Election", all elections, primary, special primary, general, special general, special, or county, unless otherwise specifically stated. "Election officials" means persons designated as officials by the chief election officer. "Electronic transmission" means the transmission of a blank or voted ballot by facsimile or electronic mail delivery, or the use of an online absentee ballot delivery and return system, which may include the ability to mark the ballot. "Hawaiian", any descendant of the aboriginal peoples inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands which exercised sovereignty and subsisted in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, and which peoples thereafter have continued to reside in Hawaii. "Office", an elective public office. "Place of deposit" means a site within the county of the voter's registration address designated pursuant to section 11-109 for the purpose of receiving return identification envelopes in an election conducted by mail pursuant to part VIIA. "Political party" or "party", a political party qualified under part V of this chapter. "Precinct" means the smallest political subdivision established by law. "Primary", a preliminary election in which the voters nominate candidates for office as provided for in chapter 12. "Provisional ballot" means a ballot and any accompanying materials issued to a voter that are segregated for review and subsequent determination of validity, in accordance with eligibility criteria and other requirements of law. "Runoff election" means any single election required by county charters preceded by an election that failed to elect a candidate. "Service bureau" means a firm registered to do business in the State and whose principal business is furnishing data processing services. "Special election", any single election required by law when not preceded by an election to nominate those candidates whose names appear on the special election ballot. "Special primary election" and "special general election", elections held only (a) whenever any vacancy occurs in the offices of United States senator, United States representative, state senator, or state representative because of failure to elect a person at an uncontested general election or (b) as specified in county charters. "Voter", any person duly registered to vote. "Voter service center" means a location within the county of the voter's registration address established pursuant to section 11-109 to serve all of the following purposes: (1) Receive return envelopes for absentee ballots pursuant to chapter 15; (2) Receive return identification envelopes in an election by mail conducted pursuant to part VIIA; (3) Provide voting machine services for persons with disabilities pursuant to the Help America Vote Act of 2002, P.L. 107-252, as amended, and any other federal or state law relating to persons with disabilities; (4) Provide any other voting services as provided by law; and (5) Any other purposes the chief election officer or clerk may deem necessary if a natural disaster or other exigent circumstance occurs before an election. "Voter turnout", means the total number of voters at an election as determined by the number of ballot cards tabulated by the computer or of paper ballots counted by the precinct officials. When there is more than one ballot card issued to each voter, "voter turnout" means the total count of the alpha ballot card with the highest number of cards tabulated by the computer. Ballots that are blank or ballots that are rejected for any reason shall be included in the count of the total number of voters. "Voting system" means the use of paper ballots, electronic transmission, voting machines, elections by mail pursuant to part VIIA, absentee voting pursuant to chapter 15, or any system by which votes are cast and counted. [L 1970, c 26, pt of §2; am L 1973, c 217, §1(a); am L 1979, c 196, §3; am L 1980, c 264, §1(a); am L 1987, c 232, §1; am L 1990, c 156, §4; am L Sp 1995, c 27, §§3, 15; am L 1996, c 239, §1; am L 1998, c 22, §1; am L 1999, c 141, §§3, 4; am L 2004, c 57, §7; am L 2019, c 136, §4; am L 2021, c 213, §4]

Source: Hawaii State Legislature (capitol.hawaii.gov), via Internet Archive capturesURL: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol01_Ch0001-0042F/HRS0011/HRS_0011-0001.htmFetched: 11/10/2026