Shawn Hamamoto, executive director of the Honolulu Neighborhood Commission Office, wants two things for Christmas: more candidates in the spring neighborhood board elections, and prospects for all 437 seats that are up for grabs.

The two things are not necessarily tied together.

In 2015, 611 civic-minded Oahu residents put themselves on the ballot, the highest number of candidates in at least a decade, Hamamoto said.

But many of those candidates went up against each other, so not all seats on all 33 boards were filled. After the 2015 election, 27 seats across 15 boards islandwide went unfilled, city officials said.

“That’s our goal this year, to get more participation, to get even more candidates,” Hamamoto said.

Vacancies are a perennial problem. According to the NCO website, there are currently 20 vacancies on 16 boards, four of them on the Kaneohe Neighborhood Board and two of them on the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board. (Between elections, boards can fill vacancies by nominating community members and voting on them.)

The NCO began collecting nominations Dec. 5, and prospective candidates have until Feb. 17 to sign up. Mailed forms must be postmarked no later than Feb. 17 and received by Feb. 24.

Candidates must be 18 or older by Feb. 17. Those who run do not have to be registered to vote in the primary or general elections, or even be U.S. citizens. They can be legal resident aliens or military personnel and their families, as long as they can verify they live where they intend to vote in neighborhood board elections.

Neighborhood boards typically meet once a month. The members serve for two years and are not paid. The primary benefit for members is the opportunity “to help improve the community and be a part of the government,” Hamamoto said.

To apply, go to www2.honolulu.gov/nbe or obtain a printed form at the NCO at Kapalama Hale, 925 Dillingham Blvd., Suite 160, or the Department of Customer Services Public Information Center at the Mission Memorial Building, 550 S. King St.

The Honolulu Charter Commission this year entertained a plethora of proposals aimed at tinkering with the neighborhood board system, and one plan to eventually kill them off. A slew of neighborhood board members and their supporters opposed the proposals, and the commission ended up not placing any amendments on last month’s general election ballot.

Voting takes place April 28 to May 19. Those who are registered to vote in the neighborhood board elections will receive a pass code in their mailboxes shortly after April 28 allowing them to go online and cast their votes.

Those who don’t receive a pass code and want to vote can obtain a registration form at honolulu.gov/nco or by calling 768-3710.

The office began offering an online voting option in 2009 but didn’t stop mailing paper ballots and go “mostly online” until 2013. A offline voting option will be offered, Hamamoto said. In the past that’s been an automated phone-in system, but that’s still to be determined for 2017.

In past years the commission issued a contract to an outside vendor to conduct the election, but this year the city was able to save about $80,000 when the Department of Information Technology created a program allowing the city to conduct the election itself. The system includes a series of security safeguards to prevent tampering.