The Hawaii Green Party had a very strong candidate for the legislature in 2012. Keiko Bonk placed second in a 3-party race in the 20th State House district, polling 31.35%. In her district, as well as some other districts, local officials ran out of ballots. Some voters did not want to wait until more ballots could be printed, and left without voting.

The Green Party sued. On July 19, 2016, the Hawaii Supreme Court issued this unanimous opinion, affirming that state election officials had broken the law. The case is Green Party of Hawaii v Nago, SCWC-14-1313. The lower courts had ruled against the Green Party.