Letters to the editor for October 21

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Guidance from League of Women Voters

Your ballots are in the mail.

In addition to containing the candidates running for office, the ballot will contain proposals for state constitutional and county charter amendments.

These proposals are important to the way our local and state governments operate. Voters should carefully consider each proposal.

In order to pass, each amendment must have a majority of the number of ballots cast. Functionally, this means that leaving the question blank is the same as voting “No.”

Of particular importance to the League of Women Voters is Constitutional Amendment Question 1, repealing the state Legislature’s authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.

The League urges you to vote “Yes” on this question. This authority came through an amendment in 1998 and has never been exercised. In 2013, marriage equality became law in Hawaii, yet the discriminatory amendment has not yet been repealed.

It’s time to correct that oversight. The League is a longtime champion of civil rights and recognizes that a discriminatory provision does not belong in our state Constitution.

Vote “Yes” on Constitutional Amendment Question 1.

Do not leave it blank, which will make it harder to pass.

Judith Wong

Vice president,

League of Women Voters of Hawaii

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