The deadline for Native Hawaiians to sign up for a chance to run as a delegate to next year’s Na‘i Aupuni nation-building convention has passed, but officials handling the election aren’t saying who or how many people put their hat in the ring.

A full list of certified candidates will not be announced until the end of the month, said Lloyd Yonenaka, spokesman for the nonprofit set up to oversee the election as part of the state-mandated effort to help establish a path for Hawaiian self-determination.

Meanwhile, the process still faces a legal challenge from the Grassroot Institute to what it calls a “race-based” and “viewpoint-based” election.

Some Hawaiians have condemned the nation- building process, saying it’s corrupted by the fact its origin is in the state Legislature’s Act 195, has taken Hawaiian names from various lists and has the fingerprints of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs all over it.

What’s more, hard-liners suspect that federal recognition and the nation-within-a-nation form of government — blasted during last year’s federal Department of Interior hearings — is the predetermined outcome.

While a list of would-be delegates has not been made public, some have made their candidacies known in social media, including longtime Hawaiian independence advocates Walter Ritte and Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele.

Kanahele maintains this is the first time Hawaiians really have their fate in their own hands.

“The first action is not necessarily what government we want,” he said. “It’s to proclaim the restoration of national sovereignty.”

Also running are Lanakila Mangauil, a leader of the Thirty Meter Telescope protests, and Clarence Ku Ching, who is part of the Mauna Kea Hui, which is challenging the telescope project in court.

Mangauil, from Hilo, said he only found out his name was on the Native Hawaiian Roll a couple of weeks ago, and he decided to take advantage of it in an effort to closely scrutinize a process he doesn’t trust.

He said, if elected, he would serve with an open mind but with an extremely watchful eye, considering the history of an effort that isn’t “pono.”

“I’m going to make sure what’s going on doesn’t threaten the rights of the people,” he said.

Ching, also from Hawaii island, labels himself a “Hawaiian Nationalist” candidate who opposes federal recognition. On his website at unclekuching.com, the retired attorney and former OHA trustee said he would advocate for and vote for the restoration of a Hawaiian kingdom.

Certified candidates will vie to become one of 40 delegates — 20 from Oahu, seven from Hawaii island, three from Maui, two from Kauai and Niihau, one from Molokai or Lanai, and seven from out of state.

The Na‘i Aupuni commission had decided that the representation would reflect the geographic distribution of population within the current registry.

Certified voters will select delegates from their own area. For example, if a voter lives on Oahu, he or she will get to vote for the candidates running for the 20 Oahu seats.

Hawaiians who want to participate in the election have until Oct. 15 to become certified. Unregistered Hawaiians can sign up at the OHA website at oha.org/registry or the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission website at kanaiolowalu.org.

The delegates of the convention are expected to consider options for Hawaiian self-determination. If the delegates create a governance document for ratification, that document may go to a vote by all certified Hawaiian voters depending on any instructions from the delegates.

More than 95,000 people so far have been certified to participate in the elections by the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission.