'Voter owned' elections would boost participation
THERE is one issue that comes back to haunt us every election: How can a place as special as Hawaii have such low voter turnout and participation?
One major answer has become obvious: To be elected to office, candidates are forced to raise tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars from private sources to fund their campaigns. Voters see all this money flowing into elections from special interests and conclude, "Money buys influence; politicians don't care what I think; so my vote is unimportant." This is what has led to today's general mistrust of politicians.
Hawaii has the potential to be a global model of sustainability, and a place that learns from the traditional Hawaiian principles of caring for the land. Sadly, though, oil, energy, waste management, real estate development and other special interests use their monetary power to block these important changes from becoming a reality any time soon.
Examples of special-interest power abound: Hawaii has no public curbside recycling programs; we have to fight for public open space for future generations; and we use only token amounts of our renewable energy sources.
Another example is the massive development project being proposed at the North Shore's Kawela Bay. Oaktree Capital, Turtle Bay development's mainland parent company, is a $31 billion hedge fund that has fought public opposition and has squelched political debate with the threat of lawsuits. This development would desecrate Hawaiian burial grounds, ruin the peaceful character of the area and threaten the environment, not to mention adding to an already bad traffic problem.
But before we throw up our hands and stay home from the polls, let's take a look at a powerful solution that can be implemented this legislative session: "voter-owned" elections.
This session, Hawaii legislators have an opportunity to pass the Comprehensive Public Funding bill (House Bill 661 HD 1), which would create a voter-owned public funding option for candidates running for forthcoming County Council races.
Passing HB 661 into law would allow County Council candidates to have a choice in the way they raise their money to run for office. They could run the traditional way, raising private money from wealthy sources, or they could try to qualify for public funds made available from the Hawaii Election Fund, which currently holds $6 million collected mostly from the $2 check-off box on our tax forms.
This process has proved successful in increasing voter turnout in other states. A similar program in Arizona doubled voter turnout in just four years, and the number of American Indian and other minority candidates more than tripled. In short, the voter-owned elections program has single-handedly reinvigorated citizens who were fed up with corruptive influence and wanted to do something about it.
The fate of the Comprehensive Public Funding bill now lies in the hands of the Legislature's leadership. Will our legislators pass this bill and open the doors to the light of day or slam the doors shut on this opportunity to move forward?
You can make a difference by contacting your state senator and representative and urging them to support Senate Bill 1068, the "clean elections" bill.
This column was submitted by the following individuals and organizations: Voter Owned Hawaii; Sierra Club; Progressive Democrats; Defend Oahu Coalition; Surfrider Foundation, Oahu Chapter; William Aila Jr.; Eric Gill; Life of the Land; Waikiki Area Residents Association; Democracy for America; Americans for Democratic Action -- Hawaii; Got Curbside?; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee -- Hawaii; Advocates for Consumer Rights; ACORN -- Hawaii.