Hawai'i may be able to use federal money meant to improve the administration of elections to help pay for a special election to fill the remaining months in U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie's term in Congress.

The state Office of Elections has said it does not have state money available to cover the cost and has suggested a special election may have to be held at the same time as the September primary.

Gov. Linda Lingle and state lawmakers could search for state money or lift budget provisos on the state Office of Elections to help pay for a special election, but state money is scarce given a projected $1 billion budget deficit through June 2011. The state may also consider federal money from the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.

The act, approved by Congress after voting problems in the 2000 presidential election, provided $15 million to Hawai'i to better administer elections, help people with disabilities vote, and improve voter registration.

Kevin Cronin, the state's chief elections officer, said Hawai'i has $7.5 million of the federal money still available. He won approval from the Lingle administration this week to use some of the federal election money on personal services contracts to hire staff to prepare for the 2010 elections.

A spokesman for Lingle said it is premature to discuss how to pay for a special election because Abercrombie has not announced his resignation date.

Under state law, a special election is the process to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House. A special election can be held no sooner than 60 days after the vacancy.

Former Congressman Ed Case, state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa and Ho- nolulu City Councilman Charles Djou have said they would run in a special election and in the primary and general elections to replace Abercrombie.

Cronin said it appears federal election money can be used for a special election but suggested the state ask the federal Election Assistance Commission for an advisory opinion.

Cronin is resigning at the end of the year, so an interim chief elections officer would likely make the call on a special election. The state Elections Commission plans to name an interim replacement for Cronin on Dec. 30.

Sarah Litton, a spokeswoman for the federal Election Assistance Commission in Washington, D.C., said there is no straightforward answer to whether Hawai'i can use the federal election money for a special election. She also suggested the state ask for an advisory opinion.

In advisory opinions this year, for example, the Election Assistance Commission found that federal election money could be used to remodel election office space in Washington state, improve a warehouse to store voting equipment in California, purchase a van for voter education in New York, and replace voting equipment bought with federal election money in Indiana.

The state Office of Elections estimates a special election would cost about $2 million, based on the experience of a special election to replace the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink in 2002.

The state has no voting machines because of legal challenges and is in the process of adopting new administrative rules to acquire voting machines for the September primary and November general election.

The state may have to request some type of exemption to the procurement process to obtain voting machines for a special election.

The state may be able to reduce costs for a special election by having voters cast ballots by mail. According to the Honolulu city clerk's office, the city spent about $225,000 for an all-mail special election last April to replace the late Barbara Marshall on the City Council and about $170,000 in August on an all-mail special election to replace the late Councilman Duke Bainum.

The City Council elections involved around 50,000 to 56,000 registered voters. An all-mail special election in urban Honolulu's 1st Congressional District would involve 314,000 registered voters, so it would cost more for postage, staff and ballot counting.

State Sen. Les Ihara Jr., D-9th (Kapahulu, Kaimukí, Pälolo), said that if Abercrombie resigns soon, the state should not wait until the September primary to hold a special election.

"The sooner the better, in order that we have representation," Ihara said. "We have the money available if there is the will."

Other state lawmakers said they are hearing from many interest groups that want the Legislature to find state money to restore public services — from school bus routes to rat inspections in Chinatown — reduced because of the deficit.

"I'm not sure right now where the money is going to come from," state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, D-14th (Hälawa, Moanalua, Kamehameha Heights), chair-woman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said of a special election.

State House Speaker Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Pälolo Valley, Wilhelmina Rise), said the deficit is likely to grow even larger today when the latest revenue projections by the state Council on Revenues are released.

"There is no money. The hole is getting bigger," Say said.