RELATING TO ELECTION REFORM.

HB1761

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1761

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to election reform
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION
1
.
�
Section
11-92.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�11-92.1
�
Election proclamation;
establishment of a new precinct; voter service centers and places of deposit;
changes to precinct boundaries.
�

(a)
�
The clerk shall issue a
proclamation listing all voter service centers and places of deposit, including
the days each voter service center and place of deposit is open and the hours
of operations and location of each voter service center and place of deposit,
as may have been determined by the clerk as of the proclamation date and
whenever a new precinct is established in any representative district.
�
There shall be at least one voter service
center for each county council district.
�

On election day, each county council district shall feature one voter
service center open for in-person voting.
�

The clerk shall make arrangements for the rental or erection of suitable
shelter for the establishment of a voter service center whenever public
buildings are not available and shall cause these voter service centers to be
equipped with the necessary facilities for lighting, ventilation, and equipment
needed for elections on any island.
�
This
proclamation may be issued jointly with the proclamation required in section
11-91.

����
(b)
�

No change shall be made in the boundaries of any precinct later than
4:30 p.m. on the tenth day before the close of filing for an election.

����
(c)
�

Notwithstanding subsection (a), and pursuant to section 15-2.5, the
clerk is not required to establish voter service centers for precincts affected
by natural disasters, as provided in section 15-2.5."

����
SECTION 2.
�
Chapter 11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as
follows:

����
"
�11-
�
��
Prohibition on Ranked Choice Voting.
�
(a)
�
The office of elections, chief
elections officer, city or county council, city or county clerk, may not
authorize or adopt or enforce in any manner a rule, resolution, or ordinance
establishing a system of voting for any office where:

����
(1)
�
Voters rank
candidates in order of preference;

����
(2)
�
Tabulation
proceeds in rounds where in each round either a candidate is elected or the
last place candidate is eliminated;

����
(3)
�
Votes are
transferred from elected or eliminated candidates to the voter's next-ranked
candidate in order of preference; and

����
(4)
�
Tabulation ends
when a candidate receives the majority of votes cast or the number of
candidates elected equals the number of offices to be filled.
"

����
SECTION
3
.
�
Section 11-100,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

����
["
[
�11-100
]
�
Ranked-choice voting; application; procedure.
�
(a)
�

Any federal election not held on the date of a regularly scheduled
primary or general election and any special election for a vacant seat on a
county council shall be conducted by ranked-choice voting.

����
(b)
�
Except as provided in subsections (c) and
(d), the following procedures shall be used to determine the winner of an
election conducted by ranked-choice voting:

����
(1)
�
Tabulation of
votes shall proceed in rounds;

����
(2)
�
In each round,
the number of votes for each continuing candidate shall be counted, with each
continuing ballot counting as one vote for its highest-ranked continuing
candidate for that round;

����
(3)
�
Inactive
ballots shall not be counted for any continuing candidate; and

����
(4)
�
The round shall
end with one of two potential outcomes:

���������
(A)
�
If
there are two or fewer continuing candidates, the candidate with the most votes
shall be declared the winner of the election; or

���������
(B)
�
If
there are more than two continuing candidates, the last-place candidate shall
be defeated and a new round shall begin.

����
(c)
�
A tie under this section between candidates
for the most votes in the final round or a tie between last-place candidates in
any round shall be decided by lot, and the candidate chosen by lot shall be:

����
(1)
�
Declared the
winner if the tie is between candidates for the most votes in the final round;
or

����
(2)
�
Defeated if the
tie is between last-place candidates in any round.

����
(d)
�
The office of elections may modify a
ranked-choice voting ballot and tabulation; provided that:

����
(1)
�
The number of
allowable rankings shall be limited to no fewer than six candidates; and

����
(2)
�
Two or more
candidates may be defeated simultaneously by batch elimination in any round of
tabulation.

����
(e)
�
For the purposes of this section:

����
"Batch elimination"
means the simultaneous defeat of multiple candidates for whom it is
mathematically impossible to be elected.

����
"Continuing ballot"
means a ballot that is not an inactive ballot.

����
"Continuing candidate"
means a candidate who has not been defeated.

����
"Highest continuing
ranking" means the highest ranking on a voter's ballot for a continuing
candidate.

����
"Inactive ballot" means
a ballot that does not rank any continuing candidate, contains an overvote at
the highest continuing ranking, or contains two or more sequential skipped
rankings before its highest continuing ranking.

����
"Last-place candidate"
means the candidate with the fewest votes in a round of ranked-choice voting
tabulation.

����
"Mathematically impossible
to be elected", with respect to a candidate, means that:

����
(1)
�
The candidate
cannot be elected because the candidate's vote total in a round of the
ranked-choice voting tabulation, plus all votes that could possibly be
transferred to the candidate in future rounds from candidates with an equal or
lower number of votes, would not be enough to surpass the candidate with the
next-higher vote total in the round; or

����
(2)
�
The candidate
has a lower vote total than a candidate described in paragraph (1).

����
"Overvote" means a
circumstance in which a voter has ranked more than one candidate at the same
ranking on a ballot.

����
"Ranked-choice voting"
means the method of casting and tabulating votes in which voters rank
candidates in order of preference, tabulation proceeds in sequential rounds in
which last-place candidates are defeated, and the candidate with the most votes
in the final round is elected.

����
"Ranking" means the
number assigned on a ballot by a voter to a candidate to express the voter's
preference for that candidate, in which the lowest number is the highest
ranking, and the highest number is the lowest ranking.

����
"Round" means an
instance of the sequence of voting tabulation steps established in subsection
(b).

����
"Skipped ranking" means
a circumstance in which a voter has left a ranking blank and ranks a candidate
at a subsequent ranking.
"]

����
SECTION
4
.
�
Section 11-155,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�11-155
�
Certification of results of election.
�
(a)
�

On receipt of certified tabulations from the election officials
concerned, the chief election officer in a state election, or county clerk in a
county election, shall compile, certify, and release the election results by
district and precinct after the expiration of the time for bringing an election
contest.
�
The certification shall be
based on a comparison and reconciliation of the following:

����
(1)
�
The results of the
canvass of ballots conducted pursuant to chapter 16;

����
(2)
�
The audit of
records and resultant overage and underage report;

����
(3)
�
The audit results
of the manual audit team;

����
(4)
�
The results of any
mandatory recount of votes conducted pursuant to section 11-158; and

����
(5)
�
All logs, tally
sheets, and other documents generated during the election and in the canvass of
the election results.

A certificate of election or a certificate of
results declaring the results of the election as of election day shall be
issued pursuant to section 11-156; provided that in the event of an overage or
underage, a list of all precincts in which an overage or underage occurred
shall be attached to the certificate.
�

The candidates to be elected who receive the most votes in any election
district shall be declared to be elected; provided that candidates for offices
elected by ranked-choice voting shall be declared to be elected pursuant to
section 11-100.
�
Unless otherwise
provided, the term of office shall begin or end as of the close of voter
service centers on election day.
�
The
position on the question receiving the appropriate majority of the votes cast
shall be reflected in a certificate of results issued pursuant to section
11-156.

����
(b)
�
Within seven days of certification of any
election, the office of elections shall post the following on their website or
another public site used by the state for posting information:

����
(1)
�
Ballot images
from machine-tabulated elections;

����
(2)
�
A cast vote
record showing the votes recorded for each candidate, race, or measure, in the
sequence they were tabulated; and

����
(3)
�
A statewide
election reconciliation report that discloses the following information:

���������
(A)
�
The
number of registered voters;

���������
(B)
�
The
number of ballots issued;

���������
(C)
�
The
number of ballots received;

���������
(D)
�
The
number of ballots counted;

���������
(E)
�
The
number of ballots rejected;

���������
(F)
�
The
number of provisional ballots issued;

���������
(G)
�
The
number of provisional ballots received;

���������
(H)
�
The
number of provisional ballots counted;

���������
(I)
�
The
number of provisional ballots rejected;

���������
(J)
�
The
number of overseas and service ballots issued by mail, email, website link, or
facsimile;

���������
(K)
�
The
number of overseas and service ballots received by mail, email, website link,
or facsimile;

���������
(L)
�
The
number of overseas and service ballots counted by mail, email, website link, or
facsimile;

���������
(M)
�
The
number of overseas and service ballots rejected by mail, email, website link,
or facsimile;

���������
(N)
�
The
number of non-overseas and non-service ballots received by mail, email, website
link, or facsimile;

���������
(O)
�
The
number of non-overseas and non-service ballots counted by mail, email, website
link, or facsimile;

���������
(P)
�
The
number of non-overseas and non-service ballots that were rejected for:

�������������
(i)
�

Failing to send an original or hard copy of the ballot by the certification
deadline; or

������������
(ii)
�
Any
other reason, including the reason for rejection;

���������
(Q)
�
The
number of voters credited with voting;

���������
(R)
�
The
number of replacement ballots requested;

���������
(S)
�
The
number of replacement ballots issued;

���������
(T)
�
The
number of replacement ballots received;

���������
(U)
�
The
number of replacement ballots counted;

���������
(V)
�
The
number of replacement ballots rejected; and

���������
(W)
�
Any
other information the chief election officer deems necessary to reconcile the
number of ballots counted with the number of voters credited with voting and to
maintain an audit trail.

����
(c)
�
Within seven days of certification of any
election, the office of elections or city or county clerk shall make available
in electronic format upon public records request the following:

����
(1)
�
All ballot
scanned batch reports and batch detail reports;

����
(2)
�
All system and
audit logs from the elections equipment including the election management
systems, scanners, and automated signature verification equipment;

����
(3)
�
Any other
reports produced by the election management system which may be called by a
different name and are required to audit the elections equipment; and

����
(4)
�
Chain of
custody documents for ballot pickup from ballot collection places of deposit
and delivery to elections facilities, ballot deliveries from ballot printing
facilities to USPS facilities, ballot pickup from USPS to elections facilities,
ballot pickups from voting centers to counting facilities, and any other chain
of custody documentation required to maintain an audit trail.
"

����
SECTION
5
.
�
Section 16-45,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�16-45
�
Official observers.
�
Official observers shall be designated by the
chief election officer or the clerk in county elections to be present at the
counting centers
and ballot envelope signature verification facilities
�
and selected in the following manner:

����
(1)
�
No less than one
official observer designated by each political party;

����
(2)
�
No less than one
official observer from the news media;

����
(3)
�
Additional
official observers as space and facilities permit designated by the chief
election officer in state elections and the clerk in county elections.

����
The chief election officer or clerk
shall give all official observers reasonable notice of the time and place where
the ballots shall be counted
and the ballot envelope signatures shall be
verified
.
�
No person shall be
permitted in the counting center
and ballot envelope signature verification
facilities
without the written authorization of the chief election officer
or clerk."

����
SECTION 6.
�
Chapter 16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as
follows:

����
"
�
16-
�
��
Signature verification of
ballot envelopes.
�
Signature
verification personnel, to be designated by the chief election officer or the
clerk in county elections, shall perform all duties related to ballot envelope
signature verification in the presence of at least two official observers.
"

����
SECTION
7
.
�
Section 11-158,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�11-158
�
Mandatory recount of
votes.
�
(a)
�
The chief election officer, or the clerk in
the case of a county election, shall conduct
, in a methodology differing
from the original count,
a recount of all votes cast for any office or
ballot question in any election if the official tabulation of all of the
returns for that office or question reveals that the difference in:

����
(1)
�
The number of
votes cast for a candidate apparently qualified for the general election ballot
or elected to office and the number of votes cast for the closest apparently
defeated opponent; or

����
(2)
�
The number of
votes cast in the affirmative for the ballot question and the number of votes
cast in the negative for the ballot question, including when applicable, the
tabulation of blank votes,

is equal to or less than [
one hundred
]
two
hundred fifty
votes or [
one-half of
] one per cent of the total
number of votes cast for the contest, whichever is lesser.

����
(b)
�

No candidate shall be charged for the cost of a mandatory recount under
this section.

����
(c)
�

All mandatory recounts of votes under this section shall be completed
and the results publicly announced by the fifth business day after election
day.

����
(d)
�
If the original vote count was done using
election equipment, including optical scanners and tabulation software, the
mandatory recount of votes shall be performed by a manual hand count of paper
ballots.

����
[
(d)
]
(e)
�
The chief election officer may adopt rules
pursuant to chapter 91 for the mandatory recount of votes under this section,
including:

����
(1)
�
Authorizing
candidates affected by the recount, or their designated representatives, to
attend and witness the recount; and

����
(2)
�
Notifying the
parties described in paragraph (1) of the time and place of the recount no
later than one day prior to the date of the recount.

����
[
(e)
]
(f)
�
This section shall apply to votes counted
pursuant to section 11-151.

����
[
(f)
]
(g)
�
A recount conducted pursuant to this section
shall not be considered a contest for cause subject to section 11-172."

����
SECTION
8
.
�
Section 16-42,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�16-42
�
Electronic voting
requirements.
�
(a)
�
When used at primary or special primary
elections, the automatic tabulating equipment of the electronic voting system
shall count only votes for the candidates of one party, or nonpartisans.
�
In all elections, the equipment shall reject
all votes for an office when the number of votes [
therefor
]
therefore

exceeds the number that the voter is entitled to cast.

����
No electronic voting system shall be
used in any election unless it generates a paper ballot or voter verifiable
paper audit trail that may be inspected and corrected by the voter before the
vote is cast, and unless every paper ballot or voter verifiable paper audit
trail is retained as the definitive record of the vote cast.

����
(b)
�

The chief election officer may rely on electronic tallies created
directly by electronic voting systems, in lieu of counting the paper ballots by
hand or with a mechanical tabulation system, if:

����
(1)
�
The electronic
voting system is subject to inspection, audit, and experimental testing, by
qualified observers, before and after the election, pursuant to administrative
rules adopted by the chief election officer under chapter 91;

����
(2)
�
No upgrades,
patches, fixes, or alterations are applied to the system through thirty days
after the election;

����
(3)
�
The chief election
officer conducts a post-election, pre-certification audit of a random sample of
not less than ten per cent of the precincts employing the electronic voting
system, to verify that the electronic tallies generated by the system in those precincts
equal hand tallies of the
original physical
paper ballots [
generated
by the system
] in those precincts; [
provided that accurate copies of the
paper ballots, including accurate electronic copies, may be used in place of
the paper ballots when verifying that the electronic tallies are equal to the
hand tallies of the paper ballots;
] and

����
(4)
�
When discrepancies
appear in the pre-certification audits in paragraph (3), the chief election
officer, pursuant to administrative rules, immediately conducts an expanded
audit to determine the extent of misreporting in the system."

����
SECTION
9
.
�
Section 11-1.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

����
"
�11-1.6
�

[
Appointment
]
Election
of the chief election officer;
requirements; term; restrictions; salary; [
reappointment; removal
]
vacancy
.
�
(a)
�
[
The
chief election officer shall be appointed by the elections commission, without
regard to chapter 76.
�
The appointment
shall not be subject to the advice and consent of the senate.
�
In the event of a vacancy, the elections
commission shall meet expeditiously to select and appoint a new chief election
officer to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.
]
Beginning in the
2030 general election, the chief election officer shall be elected from among
nonpartisan candidates by the qualified voters of this State at a general
election.
�
The person receiving the
highest number of votes shall be the chief election officer.

����
(b)
�
The person [
appointed
]
elected

to be chief election officer shall be a citizen of the United States, a
resident of the State, and a registered voter of the State.

����
(c)
�
The chief election officer shall serve for a
term of four years.
�
The term shall begin
on February 1 following the [
appointment
]
election
.

����
(d)
�
The chief election officer shall devote full
time to the duties of the office and shall hold no other public office during
the individual's term of office.
�
Except
for exercising the right to vote, the individual shall not support, advocate,
or aid in the election or defeat of any candidate for public office.
�
The chief election officer shall refrain from
financial and business dealings that tend to reflect adversely on the
individual's impartiality, interfere with the proper performance of election duties,
or exploit the individual's position.
�

Subject to the requirements above, the individual may hold and manage
investments, including real estate, and engage in other remunerative activity,
but shall not serve as an officer, director, manager, advisor, or employee of
any business.

����
(e)
�
The chief election officer shall be paid a
salary not to exceed eighty-seven per cent of the salary of the director of
human resources development.

����
(f)
�
[
The chief election officer may petition
the elections commission for reappointment.
�

The elections commission may reappoint an incumbent chief election
officer based on the performance of the chief election officer.
�
The elections commission may authorize the
chief election officer to hold office until a successor is appointed.
]
In
the event of a vacancy, the governor shall make an appointment within sixty
calendar days following the first day of vacancy to fill the vacancy for the
unexpired term by selecting a person from a list of three prospective
appointees submitted by the election commission.
�
The election commission shall submit the list
of prospective appointees to the governor within thirty calendar days following
the first day of vacancy.
�
All
appointments made by the governor under this section shall be made without
consideration of the appointee's party preference or nonpartisanship.

����
[
(g)
�
The chief election officer is an at-will
employee.
�
The elections commission shall
provide written notification of any removal and state the reason for the
removal.
]"

����
SECTION
10
.
�
Section 11-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

����
"
�11-2
�
Chief election officer; duties.
�
(a)
�

The chief election officer shall supervise all state elections
, provided
that the lieutenant governor shall preside over the election for chief election
officer
.
�
The chief election officer
may delegate responsibilities in state elections within a county to the clerk
of that county or to other specified persons.

����
(b)
�

The chief election officer shall be responsible for the maximization of
registration of eligible electors throughout the State.
�
In maximizing registration, the chief election
officer shall make an effort to equalize registration between districts, with
particular effort in those districts in which the chief election officer
determines registration is lower than desirable.
�
The chief election officer, in carrying out
this function, may make surveys, carry on house-to-house canvassing, and assist
or direct the clerk in any other area of registration.

����
(c)
�

The chief election officer shall maintain data concerning registered
voters, elections, apportionment, and districting.
�
The chief election officer shall use this
data to assist the reapportionment commission provided for under Article IV of
the Constitution.

����
(d)
�

The chief election officer shall be responsible for public education
with respect to voter registration and information.

����
(e)
�

The chief election officer shall adopt rules governing elections in
accordance with chapter 91."

����
SECTION
11
.
�
Section 11-7.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

����
"
�11-7.5
�
Duties of the elections commission.
�
The duties of the elections commission are
to:

����
(1)
�
Hold
public hearings;

����
(2)
�
Investigate
and hold hearings for receiving evidence of any violations and complaints;

����
(3)
�
Adopt
rules pursuant to chapter 91;

����
(4)
�
Employ,
without regard to chapter 76, a full-time chief election officer, pursuant to
section 11-1.6;

����
(5)
�
Conduct a performance evaluation of the
chief election officer within two months after the date a general election is
certified;

����
(6)
�
Hold a public hearing on the
performance of the chief election officer [
and consider the information
gathered at the hearing in deliberations on the chief election officer's
reappointment
]; and

����
(7)
�
Advise the chief election officer on
matters relating to elections."

����
SECTION 12.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

����
SECTION 13.
�
If any provision of this Act, or the
application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end
the provisions of this Act are severable.

����
SECTION
14.
�
This Act shall take effect on July
1, 2026; provided that Sections 9, 10, and 11 shall take effect on July 1,
2029.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Minority
Caucus Package; Election Integrity; Transparency; Access; Reform

Description:

Amends
various election provisions to increase public access to in-person voting,
increase public confidence in elections, and impose accountability in the
election certification process.
�
Key
features include increased access to voter service centers open on election
day, abolition of ranked choice voting, public access to election records,
signature verification in the presence of official observers, reform of the
mandatory recount process, the use of physical ballots during election audits,
and subjecting the chief election officer position to election instead of
appointment.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.