WHAT IS A CON-CON?

Article XVII of the state of Hawaii Constitution details the Revision and Amendment process for the Hawaii State Constitution that was approved by voters in 1978.

Section 2 of the Article gives authority that the Legislature may “ …submit to the electorate at any general or special election the question, “Shall there be a convention to propose a revision of or amendments to the Constitution?” The Section continues to note that “If any nine-year period shall elapse during which the question shall not have been submitted, the lieutenant governor shall certify the question, to be voted on at the first general election following the expiration of such period.” The referenced period is nine years.

RECENT HISTORY

In Hawaii we have a saying: “when voting for a constitutional convention, a yes vote counts as a yes; a no vote counts as a no; and a blank vote counts as a no.” This saying results from the wording in Section 2; “If a majority of the ballots cast upon such a question be in the affirmative, delegates to the convention shall be chosen at the next regular election unless the legislature shall provide for the election of delegates at a special election.” The key phase in this section is “If a majority of the ballots cast ... .”

One can argue regarding what “ballots cast” actually refers to; but the ruling that has thus far been accepted is that even ballots that left the Con-Con question blank should be counted as ballots cast. This 50 percent+ of all voters voting in the election to secure passage of the question did not become an issue until the election where Yes votes actually did exceed the No votes (see below).

1978 was the last Constitutional Convention held by the state of Hawaii. In 1986 the question of a Con-Con was automatically placed on the ballot because nine years had elapsed since the 1978 Con-Con. Voters defeated the measure with 50.5 percent actual No votes plus another 9.4 percent Blank votes. So, counting the Blanks as No gave a total negative vote of 59.9 percent No.

In 1996 the question was automatically placed on the ballot because nine years had elapsed since the 1986 vote. The voters defeated the measure in a close vote where 44.4 percent voted Yes; 43.4 percent voted No; and 12.2 percent were Blank ballots counting as a No vote. With a greater number of Yes votes having been cast the validity of the election was challenged.

The No votes won due to the wording in the Constitution that requires a majority of the votes cast. Thus, the final tally in the 1996 election was 55.6 percent No votes.

In 1998, the Con-Con question was placed on the ballot, via legislative action, even though only two years had expired since the last time voters cast ballots on the question. This special voting opportunity may have been because the 1996 vote caused such concern.

The 1998 vote was 34.1 percent Yes; 59.3 percent No; and 6.5 percent Blank. The measure failed by actual votes and also by failing to have a majority of votes cast.

SUMMARY

Nine years have passed since the 1998 ballot measure and now there are only two options that will determine when the voters will vote on the Con-Con question:

• (1) the Legislature passes a bill to place the question on the ballot of a special 2008 election or the November 2008 general election; or

• (2) the Legislature does nothing and the question is automatically placed on the November General Election ballot.

As in the past, unless otherwise challenged, the wording of Section 2 of Article XVII, and the interpretation of that wording, will continue to determine what majority is needed to pass the proposition: “If a majority of the ballots cast …” are in the affirmative.

Thus, when voters prepare to consider the question of whether or not Hawaii needs to hold a State Constitutional Convention to revise or amend the existing State Constitution they must remember that at least 50 percent plus one of all those casting a ballot must be Yes votes since all the No votes added to the Blank votes will be considered the No vote total.

Should voters decide to convene a State Constitutional Convention it will be up to the Legislature to “… provide for the number of delegates to the convention, the areas from which they shall be elected and the manner in which the convention shall convene.”

Paul Smith is a co-founder of Let Honolulu Vote. See more at http://www.lethonoluluvote.org and reach him at mailto:peSEPS@aol.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

Guest Commentary...