HONOLULU — The Legislature has passed a measure appropriating $390,000 to the state Office of Elections to conduct elections this year.

The bill would allocate $140,000 for the May 22 special election to fill a vacant congressional seat. The money is meant to reimburse the city of Honolulu for its help in conducting the vote-by-mail election, which is estimated to cost about $1 million total.

Another $250,000 is to help the state agency conduct the regular primary and general elections later this year.

State elections officials have previously cautioned that the agency had too little money to adequately execute this year's voting.

The measure, which was passed Tuesday, now heads to Gov. Linda Lingle's desk.

The bill is SB 2400.