Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Hawaii

in Hawaii

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Ballot access for major and minor party candidates
Ballot access for presidential candidates
List of political parties in the United States
Methods for signing candidate nominating petitions
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
Note: This article is not intended to serve as an exhaustive guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

In order to get on the ballot in Hawaii, a candidate for state or federal office must meet a variety of state-specific filing requirements and deadlines. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, determine whether a candidate or party will appear on an election ballot. These laws are set at the state level. A candidate must prepare to meet ballot access requirements well in advance of primaries, caucuses, and the general election.

There are three basic methods by which an individual may become a candidate for office in a state.

1. An individual can seek the nomination of a state-recognized political party.
2. An individual can run as an independent. Independent candidates often must petition in order to have their names printed on the general election ballot.
3. An individual can run as a write-in candidate.

This article outlines the steps that prospective candidates for state-level and congressional office must take in order to run for office in Hawaii. For information about filing requirements for presidential candidates, click here. Information about filing requirements for local-level offices is not available in this article (contact state election agencies for information about local candidate filing processes).

See state election laws

Year-specific filing information

2024

See also: Signature requirements and deadlines for 2024 U.S. Congress elections and Hawaii elections, 2024

U.S. Senate

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Hawaii in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Hawaii, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Hawaii	U.S. Senate	All candidates	25	$75.00	6/4/2024	Source

U.S. House

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Hawaii in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Hawaii, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Hawaii	U.S. House	All candidates	25	$75.00	6/4/2024	Source

For filing information from previous years, click "[Show more]" below.

Process to become a candidate

See statutes: Chapter 12, Part I of the Hawaii Revised Statutes

In Hawaii, all candidates, regardless of partisan affiliation, must be nominated via the state's primary election before appearing on a general election ballot. In the primary election, a candidate may run as a nonpartisan or as a member of a political party. Nonpartisan candidates appear on a separate, nonpartisan ballot.^[5][6][7]

Nomination papers

To be placed on the ballot, a candidate must first file an application for nomination papers with the Hawaii Office of Elections. Nomination papers are available on the first business day in February in every even-numbered year.^[6][8]

Nomination papers must be signed by voters qualified to vote for the office being sought by the candidate. The number of signatures required is as follows:^[6][9]

• A candidate seeking the offices of United States senator, United States representative, governor or lieutenant governor must collect 25 signatures.
• A candidate seeking office in the Hawaii State Legislature must collect 15 signatures.

A signer may sign for only one candidate per office, unless there is more than one seat available for that office. When signing the nomination paper, the signer must provide the following information:^[6][10]

• his or her name
• his or her residential address
• his or her date of birth
• the last four digits of his or her Social Security number
• a statement verifying that he or she is qualified to vote for the candidate and that he or she nominates the candidate for the office specified

The following must also be included on the nomination paper:^[10]

• the residential address and county in which the candidate resides
• a sworn certification, by self-subscribing oath, by the candidate affirming that he or she is qualified for the office being sought and that all the information provided by the candidate on the nomination paper is correct
• a sworn certification, by self-subscribing oath, by a party candidate that the candidate is a member of the party whose affiliation is indicated on the nomination paper (this is only required of political party candidates)

Filing nomination papers

The deadline to file nomination papers is the first Tuesday in June. Candidates are advised to file papers early and to collect more than the minimum number of signatures. Exceptions or extensions on filing are prohibited, and once a nomination paper has been filed, a candidate cannot add more signatures.^[11][6]

A candidate who holds a public office other than that being sought must resign from his or her current office before filing to be a candidate for a new office. When filing nomination papers, the candidate must certify, by self-subscribing oath, that he or she has resigned from his or her former office.^[6]

At the time of filing, the candidate must designate what name he or she wishes to appear on the ballot. A candidate is allowed a maximum of 27 typed spaces on the ballot for names, which includes all letters, spaces, and punctuation marks. Titles are not permitted as part of a candidate's name.^[6]

Upon filing, the candidate must sign before a notary public a written oath of affirmation. In order to sign the oath, the candidate must provide a photo ID to the notary public.^[6][12]

Any challenges or objections to a candidate's nomination paper must be raised before the 60th day prior to the primary election. Challenges and objections may be raised by registered voters, political party officers who were named on the nomination paper, or by the state's chief elections officer.^[6][13]

Filing fees

Filing fees are due at time of filing and must be paid by cash, money order, or certified cashier’s check. Personal or campaign checks will not be accepted. Filing fees may be discounted if the candidate agrees to abide by the state’s voluntary campaign spending limits. Filing fees vary according to the office being sought and are detailed in the table below.^[6][11]

Filing fees
Office sought	Filing fee	Discounted filing fee
United States senator or United States representative	$75	Not applicable
Governor or lieutenant governor	$750	$75
All other offices	$250	$25

If a candidate cannot afford to pay the filing fee, he or she can instead file an affidavit attesting to that fact and submit a petition in lieu of the filing fee. The petition must be signed by one-half of 1 percent of the total number of registered voters as of the most recent general election in the district in which the candidate is seeking election.^[6][11]

Qualifying for the general election ballot

The party candidate who receives the most votes at the primary election advances to the general election.^[14]

A nonpartisan candidate can move on to the general election ballot in one of the following ways:^[7]

• by receiving at least 10 percent of the votes cast for the office
• by receiving a number of votes equal to the lowest number of votes received by a partisan candidate who was nominated in the primary election for the office

If more nonpartisan candidates gain access to the general election ballot than there are offices up for election, only the nonpartisan candidate who received the highest vote for the office will move on to the general election.^[7][14]

Petition requirements

See also: Methods for signing candidate nominating petitions

See statutes: Chapter 12 Part I, Section 6 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes

In some cases, political parties and/or candidates may need to obtain signatures via the petition process to gain ballot access. This section outlines the laws and regulations pertaining to petitions and circulators in Hawaii.

Format requirements

In Hawaii, petitions are used to establish new political parties or to waive filing fees. Petitions are prescribed to political parties and candidates by the Hawaii Office of Elections. Petition sets should not be separated.^[15][16]

Circulation requirements

The Hawaii Revised Statutes do not address requirements for petition circulators. Specifically, there are no residency requirements for circulators.

Objections

A signer may withdraw his or her name from a petition as long as the petition has not yet been filed with the Hawaii Office of Elections. To do so, the signer must file a written notice with the Hawaii Office of Elections. This notice must include the following information:^[15][17]

• the signer's name
• the signer's Social Security number
• the signer's residence address
• the signer's date of birth
• the signer's signature, included with the printed name under which the signer is registered to vote

Election administration agencies

Election agencies

See also: State election agencies

Individuals seeking additional information about voting provisions in Hawaii can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.

Hawaii County Election Divisions

Click here for a list

Hawaii Office of Elections

802 Lehua Avenue

Pearl City, Hawaii 96782

Phone: 808-453-8683

Toll free: 1-800-442-8683

Fax: 808-453-6006

Email: elections@hawaii.gov

Website: http://hawaii.gov/elections/

Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission

Leiopapa A Kamehameha Building

235 S. Beretania Street, Room 300

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Phone: 808-586-0285

Fax: 808-586-0288

Website: http://ags.hawaii.gov/campaign/

Hawaii State Ethics Commission

1001 Bishop Street, Suite 970

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Phone: 808-587-0460

Fax: 808-587-0470

Email: info.ethics@hawaiiethic.gov

Website: https://ethics.hawaii.gov

U.S. Election Assistance Commission

633 3rd Street NW, Suite 200

Washington, DC 20001

Phone: 301-563-3919

Toll free: 1-866-747-1471

Email: clearinghouse@eac.gov

Website: https://www.eac.gov

Term limits

Some Hawaii state executives are subject to term limits. These limits are established in Article V of the Hawaii Constitution.

State executives

See also: State executives with term limits and States with gubernatorial term limits

The state executive term limits in Hawaii are as follows:^[18]

• The Governor of Hawaii may serve no more than two consecutive terms.
• The Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii may serve no more than two consecutive terms.

State legislators

See also: State legislatures with term limits

There are no term limits placed on Hawaii state legislators.

Congressional partisanship

See also: List of United States Representatives from Hawaii and List of United States Senators from Hawaii

Below is the current partisan breakdown of the congressional delegation from Hawaii.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Hawaii
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	2	4
Republican	0	0	0
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	2	4

State legislative partisanship

Below is the current partisan breakdown of the state legislature of Hawaii.

Hawaii State Senate

Party	As of February 2025
	Democratic Party	22
	Republican Party	3
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total	25

Hawaii House of Representatives

Party	As of February 2025
	Democratic Party	42
	Republican Party	9
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total	51

The table below lists bills related to ballot access requirements for candidates that have been introduced during (or carried over to) the current legislative session in Hawaii. The following information is included for each bill:

• State
• Bill number
• Official bill name or caption
• Most recent action date
• Legislative status
• Sponsor party
• Topics dealt with by the bill

Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.

The Ballot Bulletin

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Recent issues

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See also

• Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Hawaii
• Ballot access requirements for political parties in Hawaii
• Hawaii elections, 2024
• Campaign finance requirements in Hawaii
• Counties in Hawaii
• List of United States Representatives from Hawaii
• List of United States Senators from Hawaii
• Methods for signing candidate nominating petitions
• State executives with term limits
• States with gubernatorial term limits
• State legislatures with term limits

External links

Official state and federal links

• Hawaii Office of Elections
• Federal Election Commission
• Hawaii Office of Elections, "Candidate's Manual 2022"
• Hawaii Office of Elections, "Calendar"
• Hawaii Office of Elections, "Candidate Filing"

Other information

• Ballot Access News – News updates and analysis of ballot access issues
• ThirdPartyPolitics.us – Blog about American third party and independent politics
• National Voter Outreach – Political consulting firm that specializes in organizing petition signature drives

Footnotes