Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 10, 1 October 1992 — A brief history of Native Hawaiian voting rights [ARTICLE]

A brief history of Native Hawaiian voting rights

0ver the years, voting rights have changed with the torm of government. 1840 Kamehameha III replaced an absolute monarchy with a constitutional monarchy. New legislative bodies were: *House of Nobles - members appointed by the King included women of high rank. *House of Representatives - only adult male citizens could vote and serve as members. 1864 Kamehameha V proclaimed a new constitution increasing his own power as King and: * merging both Houses into a legislative assembly * making voter qualifications restrictive * when Lunalilo became King in 1873, he eased voting requirements. 1893-1894 After the overthrow of the Kingdom, the Provisional Government (PG) required voters to:

* sign an oath of allegiance to the PG's, and opposition to restoring the monarchy *most natives were deprived of the right to vote - 13,500 voters in 1890; 3,200 in 1894. 1894-1898 The Republic of Hawai'i was established and the right to vote became more restrictive-natives were still excluded. 1898 Hawaii was annexed to the U.S., becoming a Territory in 1900. Voting laws were relaxed, but: * women still couldn't vote. The governor was appointed by the U.S. President. * Hawaii's citizens could elect a non-voting Delegate to Congress. 1959 All citizens of Hawai'i, not only Hawaiians, voted on the question of statehood. Hawai'i could now elect 2 senators and a member of Congress.