HRS § 11-72 - Precinct officials; submission of names and assignment; vacancies

(a) All qualified political parties shall submit names for precinct officials to the chief election officer not later than 4:30 p.m. on the sixtieth day prior to the close of filing for any primary, special primary, or special election. All precinct officials shall be able to read and write the English language. If any party fails to submit the required names by the above deadline, or names sufficient to fill the positions to which it would be entitled, assignment of positions to which the party would otherwise be entitled pursuant to subsection (b), may be made without regard to party affiliation. (b) In assigning the precinct officials, the following criteria shall be followed: (1) The precinct officials shall be registered voters of the precinct in which they serve; but if qualified persons in the precinct or representative district are not readily available to serve, they may be chosen from without the precinct or representative district, or if qualified persons either in or without the precinct or representative district are not available to serve, the chief election officer may designate precinct officials who are not registered voters if the persons so designated are otherwise qualified and shall have attained the age of sixteen years on or before June 30, of the year of the election in which they are appointed to work; (2) The chief election officer may designate more precinct officials than are needed in order to create a pool of qualified precinct officials who may be assigned to fill vacancies or to perform their duties as needed in any precinct; (3) No parent, spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, child, or sibling of a candidate shall be eligible to serve as a precinct official in any precinct in which votes may be cast for the candidate; nor shall any candidate for any elective office be eligible to serve as a precinct official in the same election in which the person is a candidate. No candidate who failed to be nominated in the primary or special primary election shall be eligible to serve as a precinct official in the general election next following; and (4) The chairperson of the precinct officials shall be the first named precinct official on the list prepared by the chief election officer. The remainder of the precinct officials shall be apportioned as follows: (A) The total votes cast, except those cast for nonpartisan candidates, for all of the following offices that were on the ballot in the next preceding general election shall be divided into the total votes cast for all the candidates of each party for these offices: president and vice-president, United States senator, United States representative, governor and lieutenant governor, state senator, and state representative; (B) If a party's proportion of votes cast exceeds fifty per cent, its share shall be one-half of the precinct officials. The remaining one-half shall be divided among the remaining parties in proportion to their respective total of votes cast for the offices set forth in subparagraph (A); (C) In the case of the above division resulting in parties having fractional positions, a whole position shall go to the party with the larger number of votes cast; and (D) Newly qualified parties may be assigned up to ten per cent of the total positions available at the discretion of the chief election officer. (c) In the recruitment and placement of precinct officials, any or all of the requirements of subsection (b) may be waived by the chief election officer if it is determined that minority language assistance or other special needs warrant such waiver, except as provided in subsection (b)(3). (d) In case of inability, failure, or refusal of any person so assigned to serve as a precinct official, the chief election officer shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy. [L 1970, c 26, pt of §2; am L 1972, c 77, §4; am L 1973, c 217, §1(u); am L 1977, c 189, §1(5); am L 1979, c 125, §3(2) and c 139, §5; am L 1987, c 209, §1; am L 1988, c 141, §1; am L 1989, c 261, §24; am L 1990, c 124, §2; gen ch 1992; am L 1995, c 71, §2; am L 2005, c 14, §2 and c 201, §3]