Hawaii Elections commissioners are beginning to worry that new election district boundaries will still be tied up in court when candidates are able to begin filing nomination papers Feb. 1.

But Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago told commissioners there’s nothing to do but wait.

And in the meantime, he’s looking ahead to 2014. Nago plans to ask the Legislature this session to put in place new laws that would improve the elections process, including an online voter registration program.

The Hawaii 2012 primary election is just seven months away, and key contests are already underway and politicians are busy raising money.

Yet, candidates wanting to run for state House and Senate cannot file their official nomination papers with the Office of Elections until district boundaries are drawn.

Thanks to a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling Jan. 4, the Reapportionment Commission must redraw district boundaries to count only permanent residents.

At a meeting Wednesday morning, commissioners expressed concern about the delay and worried what might happen if the new district plans are challenged.

But Nago said there’s nothing to be done until his office sees a final plan from the Reapportionment Commission.

“You can’t file for House or Senate if there are no lines,” said Nago. “The entire plan got thrown out.”

Looking Ahead to 2014

The high court acted quickly in part because of the looming deadline.

Hawaii’s primary campaign season is shorter than usual this year, since the date was moved from late September to the second Saturday in August to accomodate overseas ballots.

The Reapportionment Commission is scheduled to meet Jan. 20.

Despite Election Commission concerns, Nago isn’t panicking. He’s hiring staff for the election and expects his budget requests to be met by the state Legislature.

Candidates also have until June 5 to file for a state House or Senate office. The primary is Aug. 11.

Meanwhile, Nago is already looking ahead to 2014.

The Office of Elections will introduce at least two bills this session to help improve voting.

The first is a bill that would allow online voter registration.

Though Gov. Neil Abercrombie vetoed a bill passed last session that would require electronic voter registration by Jan. 1, 2014, Nago said this new bill would be “less restrictive” and less expensive to implement.

Another bill will ask the Legislature to grant the Elections Office the discretion to require voters in “pocket precincts” to vote absentee rather than visit a voting precinct in a school or community center.

“Pocket precincts” refers to sections of districts that overlap, placing a small group of voters outside of established precincts. Nago said it is impractical to staff a precinct that serves only a handful of voters.

“I’m not sure how many people are in these districts, but the bill would give the chief elections officer the discretion to make them vote by mail,” he said.