The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is canvassing communities in an effort to expand a roll of qualified Native Hawaiians interested in participating in their own government.

The office is recruiting volunteers to knock on doors and make phone calls to register people for the roll.

The roll initiative launched in 2012 after enactment of a state law recognizing Native Hawaiians as the only indigenous people of the islands.

OHA will be holding a town-hall meeting Wednesday at the Waimanalo Homestead Association Halau. Other meetings in Nanakuli, Papakolea and Kapolei are scheduled for later this month.

More than 120,000 names are already on the roll. The deadline to sign up is May 1.

Nearly 290,000 Native Hawaiians live in the state.