Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 9, 1 September 2006 — Getting out the Hawaiian vote [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Getting out the Hawaiian vote

A pair of initiatives aim at improving Native Hawaiian voter turnout

By Sterling Kini Wnng Publicatinns Editnr Representing almost 16 percent of the state's potential voters, Native Hawaiians should be an influential force at the polls. The problem is, less than half actually vote. This election season, however, a broad push is being made to improve those statistics and help Native Hawaiians realize their potential poliīieal power. "We're trying to get Native Hawaiians to understand that they're a large group that politicians have to pay attention to," said Mona Wood, who is helping to coordinate one of a pair of Hawaiian registration efforts. "If they vote, they ean make a big difference." There are more than 153,000 eligible Native Hawaiian voters in Hawai'i, about 15.7 percent of the total number of potential voters statewide. But in the 2004 election, less than 50 percent of qualified Native Hawaiians voted, according to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. CNHA President Robin Danner said that while the participation rate among Native Hawaiians seems low, it's proportionate to the overall state election turnout. However, she said, "Hawaiians should be leading the charge in turning around voter apathy statewide. If we ean generate more voter interest, we will get better policy. We'll all benefit from that." The get-out-the-Hawaiian-vote effort is being spearheaded by a pair of initiatives,

CNHA's "Native Votes Count" campaign and Hawaiian Vote 2006, a nonprofit coalition of Hawaiian organizations with the motto, "No Vote, No Grumble." While neither group endorses specific candidates, they do use Hawaiian issues, like the Akaka Bill and the various legal attacks on Hawaiian programs, as rallying points to encourage Hawaiians to vote. Paulette Moore, a volunteer with Hawaiian Vote 2006, said that when she goes out into communities to register Hawaiians, she talks to them about topics that directly affect them and their families. "It's real Hawaiian style, to ask people about their children," she said. "I ask them, 'Do your kids benefit from the Queen Lili'uokalani Trust? Do they go to Kamehameha Schools?' We try to turn the discussion into something they ean relate to, so they understand that they need to vote." Hawaiian Vote 2006 is setting up booths at events around the state with the hope of registering 25,000 Native Hawaiian voters for the general election on Nov. 7. The group is planning two eleetion rallies on the grounds of 'Iolani Palaee on Sept. 16 and Nov. 4. In addition, volunteers are signing people up for a list that they will use to eall voters in the days leading up to the primary and general elections to remind them to vote, and will also be coordinating car pools to the polls. Meanwhile, CNHA's "Native Votes Count" eampaign builds on the group's efforts since 2002 to encourage Hawaiians to vote. But this year, it has expanded its voter education effort to now include actually registering voters. The group has 15 deputized voter registrars and has been conducting house-to-house

canvassing on O'ahu, Kaua'i and Moloka'i. CNHA also organized two intimate meet-the-candidate events in August. In addition, the group is planning a gubernatorial forum and a "Rock the Native Hawaiian Vote" concert at its annual convention in late September (see box). CNHA's popular "I am Hawaiian and I Vote" bumper stickers and T-shirts helped

create a lot of awareness about the need for Hawaiians to vote in the past, and the group hopes to build on that. "The response from previous elections has really driven our effort this year," said Lisa Oshiro, a CNHA senior policy analyst. "People were asking, 'Where are those signs? Where are those stickers?' You ean just feel the momentum." S

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Above: Hawaiian Vote 2006's "No Vote, No Grumble" campaign. - Photo: Sterling Kini Wong. Below: CNHA senior policy analyst Lisa Oshiro and Alapa'i Danner signwaving in downtown Honolulu. - Photo: Courtesy of CNHA