Voting is underway for more than 95,000 Native Hawaiians who will elect 40 delegates to a constitutional convention that will consider models for self-governance.
In the meantime at least three candidates have withdrawn from the election, saying they refuse to participate in a flawed and unfair process, and a grass-roots campaign continues to try to undermine the effort.
The ultimate fate of the convention may still be decided in court, as the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considers an appeal to a judge’s ruling that allowed the process to move forward.
Voting is scheduled take place throughout November, with ballots going out to Hawaiians registered with the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission. Those on the list were also sent emails with instructions describing how to vote online.
A spokesman for Na‘i Aupuni on Monday said a handful of people called to report trouble with online voting. In response a “vote now” link was set up on the front page at naiaupuni.org.
Veteran Native Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte Jr. of Molokai announced his withdrawal from the election last week, describing the process as rigged and rushed to meet the nation-within-a-nation proposal supported by the Obama administration.
Following suit are candidates Scott Parker, a Kamehameha Schools Kapalama campus vice principal from Maui, and Judy Moa, owner of an insurance agency on Hawaii island.
Moa said Monday that she’s found too many Hawaiians confused and ill-informed about Na‘i Aupuni, and that the effort appears to be misleading people into believing they can have self-determination and self-governance.
“It seems to be fixed — it really does,” Moa said.
In an email, Parker said he’s had trouble communicating with Na‘i Aupuni and representatives from Election-America, the contractor overseeing the election.
“The inability for Na‘i Aupuni to be transparent on this entire elections process concerns me a great deal,” he said.
A group calling itself Protest Na‘i Aupuni continues its social media and grass-roots campaign to discourage participation in the election. They argue that the effort is a scam to create a puppet nation to undercut the independence movement and take away Hawaiian lands.
A website has been launched at protestnaiaupuni.com, and a “Protest Na‘i Aupuni Community Meeting” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 19 at Hauula Elementary School.
Despite the backlash, many independence candidates appear to be sticking to their commitment to Na‘i Aupuni.
Moanike‘ala Akaka, a former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee who is running as a delegate on Hawaii island, said she doesn’t trust the process, but she wants to be there to make sure things are right.
“I don’t feel I have any other alternative,” said Akaka, who was arrested in April protesting the Thirty Meter Telescope.
“We need serious delegates inside that convention as well as vigilant watchdogs on the outside,” she said in a written statement following Ritte’s withdrawal. “Walter Ritte’s strong voice will be missed but we must carry on. We have been, are, and will continue to be a Hawaiian nation.”
Meanwhile a slate of 19 candidates calling itself Na Makalehua has emerged as a collective of young leaders who are using the moment as “an opportunity to hooholomua (to move forward) their lahui (nation) and fulfill their kuleana (responsibility),” the group said in a news release. Among the slate’s candidates are state Rep. Kaniela Ing (D, South Maui) and Oahu kumu hula Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu.
Members of the group are holding a news conference at the state Capitol this morning to urge Hawaiians to vote in the Na‘i Aupuni election. For more information visit makalehua.com.
