Counting negative responses over the total of yea and nay together, poll results find 67.1 percent of respondents answer "no" when asked, "Do you want Congress to approve the Akaka Bill?"

Akaka supporters were quick to question the validity of the results. Immediately after Grassroot Institute’s July 5 press conference announcing the results, Congressman Ed Case (D-HI) tells The Honolulu Advertiser, "You can get any result you want out of a poll depending upon how you ask the question. I have nothing against the Grassroot Institute but it is very clear they have a position they are trying to develop the evidence for, and that is what they have done." According to The Honolulu Advertiser, Donalyn Dela Cruz, a spokesperson for Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), said the wording of the question misrepresented the bill and played on people's fears ... (and Akaka opponents) "continually misrepresent what this bill does."

The Honolulu Advertiser also calculated the poll results on a different basis than Grassroot by including the "no response" respondents in the total and writing, "Of the 980 respondents, 198 (20 percent) said they support the Akaka bill, 404 (41 percent) said they do not and 378 (39 percent) gave no response."

Grassroot Institute's poll results contain several other surprises. The result from the 151 respondents identifying themselves as Native Hawaiians is that only 59 (39 percent) indicate support for Akaka, 43 (28.5 percent) indicate opposition and 49 (32.5 percent) did not respond to the automated polling question. One hundred and fifty one contacts eliciting only 102 responses is not a large sampling, but the results are in stark contrast to a 2003 poll of 303 Native Hawaiians, which is often pointed to by Akaka supporters.

That 2003 poll, commissioned by the pro-Akaka, Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), and conducted by Ward Research, asked the 303 Native Hawaiians a less specific question, "Do you think that Hawaiians should be recognized by the U.S. as a distinct group, similar to the special recognition given to Native Americans and Alaska Natives?" According to OHA Trustees Chair, Haunani Apoliona, writing in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 3, 2005, 86 percent said "yes," 7 percent said "no," and 6 percent responded "don't know."

Grassroot Institute President Dick Rowland immediately released to the media the full poll questions and raw polling results. In contrast, OHA has announced only parts of their polling result. In the Honolulu Star-Bulletin piece, Apoliona says the OHA poll shows, "Of the 301 non-Hawaiians polled, almost eight in 10 (78 percent) supported federal recognition, 16 percent opposed it, with 6 percent unsure." Her "Another Perspective" editorial in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin came in response to a non-scientific March, 2005 Star-Bulletin "Big Question" online survey, which asked -- "Would you like to see the Akaka bill become law?" -- 75 percent or 1,301 voted "no" and only 436 voted "yes."

The full wording of the OHA poll question is, "The Akaka-Stevens bill proposes that Hawaiians be formally recognized as the indigenous people of Hawaii, giving them the same federal status as 560 Native American and Alaska Native tribes already recognized by the U.S. government. Do you think that Hawaiians should be recognized by the U.S. as a distinct group, similar to the special recognition given to Native Americans and Alaska Natives?"

The full wording of the Grassroot Institute poll is, "The Akaka Bill question, now pending in Congress, would allow Native Hawaiians to create their own government not subject to all the same laws, regulations and taxes that apply to other citizens of Hawaii. Do you want Congress to approve the Akaka Bill?"

While both questions introduce the subject with language helpful to the questioner, the Grassroot poll is the only one which directly asks, "Do you want Congress to approve the Akaka Bill?" The direct question OHA asks is more general: "Do you think that Hawaiians should be recognized by the U.S. as a distinct group, similar to the special recognition given to Native Americans and Alaska Natives?" Other criticism of the Grassroot poll has focused on their poll question immediately preceding the Akaka question: "Do you support laws that provide preferences for people groups based on their race?" This, say poll critics, skewed the results by associating Akaka with racial preferences in the mind of respondents.

Correlation between results of Grassroot Institute's racial preference question and support for the Akaka Bill shows that Akaka is a racial preference in the eyes of many of its supporters. Publicly, Akaka proponents deny that they are promoting a racial preference, but of the 125 Grassroot poll respondents who indicate they "support racial preferences" 58 indicated support for the Akaka Bill. At 45 percent, this is more than twice the percentage of Akaka support found in the general public. On the other hand only 110 (19 percent) of the 601 respondents who oppose "racial preferences" support Akaka -- a lower level than in the population as a whole.

Grassroot Institute's decision to allow full transparency of its polling data enables Akaka supporters to pick at the results, but it also shines the light on their choice to withhold their own polling data. Clearly more polling is needed with larger samples which can resolve the sharp discrepancy between Grassroot Institute's result and Akaka supporters’ claims of public support for their bill.

Andrew Walden is the publisher and editor of Hawaii Free Press, a Big Island-based newspaper. He can be reached via email at: mailto:andrewwalden@email.com

HawaiiReporter.com reports the real news, and prints all editorials submitted, even if they do not represent the viewpoint of the editors, as long as they are written clearly. Send editorials to: mailto:Malia@HawaiiReporter.com

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