WAILUKU, Maui — Maui Councilman-elect Sol Kaho'ohalahala and the county will appeal a ruling by the Board of Registration that he is a resident of Lahaina — not Lana'i, which he was elected to represent.

But it remains unclear how the board decision, which is limited to eligibility to vote — not on whether a voter can hold office — will affect Kaho'ohalahala's ability to be seated on the council in January.

"We are going to appeal the BOR decision to obtain clarity on what the criteria or procedure should be," said Maui County Clerk Roy Hiraga. "No other decision has been made."

The Board of Registration recently released a copy of its decision, overturning an earlier ruling by Hiraga that Kaho'ohalahala was a Lana'i resident.

While Hiraga had cited state law that a person's intention to live in a place is a major factor in determining residency, as well as a past attorney general's opinion that residency depended on a person's "state of mind," the board noted that the law also says that intention alone, without also having a physical presence in a place, does not establish residency.

It added that Kaho'ohalahala didn't own or rent a house on Lana'i or have other property there, like a car, and had not abandoned the residence he established in Lahaina in 2006.

Neither Hiraga nor Kaho'ohalahala has yet received a certified copy of the board's decision, which was released by e-mail. They would have 10 days to file an appeal after they receive the official copy.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Jane Lovell said the county didn't want to take sides on the issue but would appeal to get more information and guidance on how to handle voter challenges in the future.

Kaho'ohalahala comfortably won election to the council's Lana'i seat on Tuesday, with 22,493 votes to opponent John Ornellas' 17,348.

An attorney for Kaho'ohalahala said he believed the Board of Registration decision contained legal errors, and stressed that the ruling only affected his voter registration, not his right to run for office.

"He was an eligible candidate when he ran — and congratulations that he won," said attorney Ben Lowenthal. "We would like to correct the decision and restore his right to vote."

Lovell said a ballot cast by Kaho'ohalahala before the election had been set aside and would be treated as a provisional ballot.

"It will be counted or not depending on the outcome of any appeal," she said.

A petition filed by attorney Lance Collins for Kaho'ohalahala last month, asking the state Supreme Court to dismiss challenges to Kaho'ohalahala's residency, has already been thrown out by the court. Collins had argued that the residency challenges were an attempt to overturn an election since they were filed after Kaho'ohalahala finished first in a first special election contest.

Lana'i resident Michael "Phoenix" Dupree, whose appeal to Hiraga's ruling was upheld by the Board of Registration, said he would wait to see the outcome of Kaho'ohalahala's appeal before deciding what to do next. "I don't have an action plan right now," he said.