WE are all a little poorer today, because last week we were robbed. We were robbed by the state Supreme Court, which plucked the constitutional convention, approved by the voters last November, right off our calendars. The Supreme Court
erred on Con ConThe court ruled that while a majority of the voters voted for a constitutional convention, the count had to include the ballots left blank and the few that were spoiled.
Because the Con Con won by only 3,000 votes, the court canceled the election.
To rule against the majority, the Supreme Court had to finesse the English language and look at the difference between these phrases: "ballots cast" and "votes tallied."
The court said "ballots cast" means the number of things put in the ballot box. "Votes tallied" however, means the number of yes or no votes.
To reach this decision the court had to plow over an earlier state Supreme Court decision that said "blank, illegal and unintelligible ballots should be rejected in computing the number of votes."
It also had to ignore state law, which spelled out that except in cases of constitutional amendment ratification, blank or spoiled ballots shall not be counted in determining the majority vote in all other matters.
Respected Honolulu attorney Mark Bennett said our court ignored 150 years of American and English cases standing for the principle that without the clearest constitutional or statutory language, blank votes do not count as no votes.
In most cases this debate would quickly become as crucial as the number of angels hopping on pin heads or whether your beer tastes great, or is less filling.
But this is about the very core of democracy.
It is troubling to think that, barring the most urgent error, the court would overturn the results of an election, stop another and cancel the process to amend our basic governing documents.
We needed that Con Con.
Hawaii is already a state that does not embrace change, that simply doesn't like choice and has a long-standing debate about whether or not to bring back the monarchy.
With fewer than half of our eligible voters registered, we already have one of the nation's lowest voting percentages. We have the distinct dishonor of having the lowest number of elected offices on a per capita basis.
The damage has been done. It is now up to the Legislature to act swiftly to rebuild the process wrecked by the Supreme Court decision.
As Hawaii's financial crisis continues, it is clear that the state needs to seriously debate many things that have been taken for granted in the past.
IT was a smart move for Gary Rodrigues and the AFL-CIO to fight the original vote result and turn to the Supreme Court for help, because there is a feeling growing that public employee unions will have to be more accountable to the public at large.
Rodrigues wisely realizes that he would be fighting to preserve his union's benefits and clout if a Con Con were held.
Hawaii has other problems that need to be discussed in convention. Our critical rights to publicly gathered information are being eroded at the Legislature. The system that governs the schools with an elected board and an appointed superintendent doesn't work and no one is pleased with today's state tax structure.
Quick action by the Legislature is our only hope to restore the civil rights taken away by last week's decision.