KAILUA-KONA — Native Hawaiian constitutional convention attendees on Friday adopted a governing document that will go out to a vote for ratification.
KAILUA-KONA — Native Hawaiian constitutional convention attendees on Friday adopted a governing document that will go out to a vote for ratification.
The constitution was approved with 88 “yes” votes, 30 “no” votes and one abstention during the convention, or aha, which was organized by nonprofit organization Nai Aupuni and concluded Friday with 118 of the 151 participants voting. The constitution, drafted over several weeks of committee meetings and floor debate, addresses a variety of issues from a core government structure to native rights.
Nai Aupuni was created in late 2014 to organize the aha, which was initially intended to include just 40 delegates who would be elected by Native Hawaiians. The election process was challenged in 2015 by a group arguing that because Hawaii residents without Native Hawaiian ancestry could not participate in the election, they were being denied constitutional rights.
In October, a U.S. district court ruled that the election was a private one and could proceed. The case is currently before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In December, the Supreme Court granted an injunction to the plaintiff group, comprised of both Native Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians, and blocked election votes from being counted.