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HRS §11-155

Certifying and releasing election results

After election officials send in their certified counts, the chief election officer (state) or county clerk (county) must put together, check, and release the results by district and precinct once the time to challenge the election has passed. The results must match several official records, and winners are declared based on the most votes, except for ranked-choice voting.

everyone

The statute, as written — Certification of results of election

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.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

Sections this one refers to

§11-156 Election certificates: who gets them and when

§11-158 When a vote recount is required and how it works

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.