Hawaiian
convention vote
to be held in 10 days

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

In a nondescript warehouse in Kakaako, Kaipo Kincaid anxiously counts the days to Jan. 17, when delegates will be chosen to convene a native Hawaiian convention she hopes one day will restore a Hawaiian nation.

The executive director of Ha Hawaii, the nonprofit agency continuing the work started by the 1996 Native Hawaiian Vote, says Ha Hawaii members are confident the elections will go off without a hitch, in spite of criticism leveled by other Hawaiian groups who say this effort does not help the sovereignty movement.

“We’re going to have an election,” Kincaid said yesterday. “We’re moving forward.” “I think we’re falling into place pretty well,” she said.

With 10 days before the controversial election, the Ha Hawaii office buzzed with activity yesterday morning as staffers fielded telephone calls nonstop as they prepared for evening briefings with the 76 precinct officials who will oversee the polling places.

Ha Hawaii board member Dona L. Hanaike, who once held director-level jobs in both state and city departments, said the tremendous logistics of the elections are difficult, but the hundreds of volunteers over the past year have made it possible.

The Jan. 17 elections -- held on the 106th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy -- take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. at polling places statewide, most at public schools or community parks, Hanaike said.

Up for grabs are 85 delegate seats representing the districts, or moku, in Hawaii, including seven seats for those abroad. And Ha Hawaii is holding absentee and mail-in balloting, with votes expected to be cast from as far away as France, Zimbabwe and the Solomon Islands, Kincaid said.

Despite previous voter registration deadlines, Kincaid said there will be walk-up registration and voting for those who can prove their Hawaiian ethnicity with identification. All ballots cast will be placed in locked metal boxes and sent to a guarded processing site in Pearl City once the elections are over.

More than 100,000 people are eligible to vote. There are 156 candidates, including Melvin Kalahiki, Dennis (Bumpy) Kanahele, Mahealani Kamauu, Jimmy K. Wong, Walter Ritte Jr., Momi W. Cazimero, H.K. Bruss Keppeler, Myron B. Thompson and Dante K. Carpenter.

Tabulation of the ballots begins on Jan. 26, following a 10-day holding period to allow the 2,000 mail-in ballots to arrive. The results are expected to be announced Jan. 27.

Once elected, delegates will decide the details of when to hold a native Hawaiian convention.

Ha Hawaii is continuing the process started by the now-disbanded Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council, which conducted the Native Hawaiian Vote three years ago.

Of the 81,507 ballots mailed to registered Hawaiians in that vote, 30,783 were returned. Of the ballots cast, 22,294 -- or 73 percent -- favored a plan to elect delegates to a convention.

Critics claim the council’s efforts were tainted because the state created the council.

Both the state and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in 1995 gave HSEC a combined $1.8 million to hold the vote.

Yesterday, however, OHA Chairwoman Rowena Akana told Hawaiian beneficiaries OHA has not endorsed Ha Hawaii’s efforts to follow in the council’s footsteps. Moreover, it has not directly funded this election.

Still, there is confusion because Ha Hawaii received a $2 million grant from the federal Administration for Native Americans, an agency that OHA gave $1 million in matching funds so ANA could award grants to Hawaiian groups.

Akana said OHA will closely watch the election turnout, which will help validate the level of its support from Hawaiians.