Section 3-177-402 - Nomination papers; verification of signatories(a) Upon receipt of a nomination paper, the chief election officer, clerk, or their designated representatives, shall count and determine whether the nomination paper has met the signature requirements, pursuant to HRS § 12-5.(b) If the nomination, paper contains at least the required number of signatures pursuant to HRS § 12-5, then the chief election officer, clerk, or designated representative may verify whether the signatory is eligible to sign the nomination paper. A nomination paper containing less than the required number of signatures shall be rejected without verification of signatories. To be eligible, the signatory must: (1) Appear in the statewide voter registration system as an active registered voter no later than 4:30 p.m. on the day of the filing deadline;(2) Be registered at the residence address appearing on the nomination paper;(3) Be registered in the district from which the candidate is running for office;(4) Be eligible to vote for the candidate when the nomination paper is filed; and(5) Not have withdrawn their name, pursuant to HRS § 12-4(c).(c) The chief election officer, clerk, or designated representative shall use the statewide voter registration system to verify whether the signatory is eligible to sign the nomination paper. (1) If the signatory is an eligible voter pursuant to subsection (b), then the signatory shall be counted;(2) If the signatory is not an eligible voter pursuant to subsection (b), then the signatory shall not be counted;(3) If there are duplicate signatures on a nomination paper, and the signatory is an eligible voter pursuant to subsection (b), then the signatory shall be counted once;(4) If the signatory does not provide all of the information required by HRS § 12-3(a) (5), then the signatory may not be counted; and(5) If the information is not legible, then it may not be counted.(d) If a voter signs more than one nomination paper for the same office, then the signature on the nomination paper that is filed first will be accepted; provided that a voter may sign as many nomination papers for an office as there are seats available. The chief election officer or clerk shall use the date and time filed that is recorded in each nomination paper to determine which was filed first.(e) To the extent a document is initially received and subsequently found not to meet filing requirements, it may be returned to the individual to obtain the necessary signatures or to otherwise be corrected, before being resubmitted. For example, if a candidate submits a nomination paper and it is subsequently determined that it does not have the required number of verified signatures, the nomination, paper may be returned to the candidate to obtain sufficient signatures and resubmit, the document by the filing deadline. (f) The chief election officer or designated. representative may verify that the voter's signature on the nomination paper corresponds with the reference signature or reference signatures of the voter. If the signature does not correspond, then the voter's signature on the nomination paper shall not be counted. The chief election officer or designated representative shall indicate on the nomination paper that the voter's signature is invalid because it does not match any reference signature of the voter.(g) The chief election officer, clerk, or designated representative may verify only as many signatories as needed to ensure that the nomination paper has met the signature requirements of HRS § 12-5.[Eff JUL 26 2020] (Auth: HRS § 11-4) (Imp: HRS §§ 12-3, 12-4, 12-5)