Ballot access requirements for political parties in Hawaii

in Hawaii

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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.

Although there are hundreds of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Hawaii, see this article.

See state election laws

Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

Seal of Hawaii

See statutes: Chapter 11, Part V of the Hawaii Revised Statutes

Hawaii state law defines a political party an association of voters united to promote a common political end or to carry out a particular line of political policy. The party must maintain a general organization throughout the state, including a regularly constituted central committee and county committees. A political party must also have fielded candidates in the last general election. A party must also have achieved one of the following:^[1]

1. The party must have received at least 10 percent of all votes cast for statewide office, or in at least 50 percent of the congressional districts.
2. The party must have received at least 4 percent of all votes cast for either all state senate offices or all state house offices statewide.
3. The party must have received at least 2 percent of all votes cast for all state senate offices and all state representative offices combined statewide.

If a group did not receive enough votes to qualify as a political party, or if a group wishes to create a new political party, that group must qualify by petition using the process described below.

1. To receive a petition for ballot access, a group must apply to the Hawaii Office of Elections. Applications for petitions must include the following information:^[2][3]
   • the name of the group
   • the address and telephone number of the group
   • the name and telephone number of a contact person for the group
2. Upon receipt of the application, the Hawaii Office of Elections will prescribe the petition upon which the group can collect signatures for ballot access. The petition should declare the intention of the signers to qualify as a political party and state the name of the new party.^[2][3]
3. The number of signatures collected to gain ballot access must be equal to at least 0.1 percent of the total number of registered voters of the state as of the most recent general election.

The qualifying petition must be filed with the Hawaii Office of Elections by the 170th day prior to the primary election. When filing the petition, the following must also be filed:^[2]

1. the names and addresses of the officers of the central committee of the political party
2. the names and addresses of the officers of the respective county committees of the political party
3. the party rules (any amendments to the party rules must be filed within 30 days of adoption)^[4]

Maintaining party status

Once a political party has qualified by petition and continued to qualify for three consecutive elections, that party will be considered qualified for a period of 10 years without needing to petition, provided the party continues to field candidates for election to public office. The 10-year period begins with the next regularly scheduled general election. At the end of the 10-year period, the party must either have qualified by receiving enough votes for their fielded candidates or must re-qualify by petition.^[3]

Political parties

See also: List of political parties in the United States

As of May 2024, Hawaii officially recognized eight political parties. ^[5]

Historical events

2014

On February 20, 2014, the Independent Party of Hawaii submitted a petition to gain ballot access for the 2014 election. The party estimated that it submitted approximately 2,000 signatures, and they needed at least 706, which was one-tenth of 1 percent of the number of registered voters in the 2012 general election. Later that day, the Hawaii Office of Elections verified that the party had submitted enough signatures to become ballot-qualified.^[6][7]

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See also

• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Hawaii
• Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Hawaii
• List of political parties in the United States
• Democratic Party of Hawaii
• Republican Party of Hawaii

External links

• Hawaii Democratic Party
• Hawaii Republican Party

Footnotes

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