You may have heard the expression that “equality and justice are on the ballot.” Usually this is when someone is talking about the difference between the candidates.

That is figuratively the case in a lot of the candidates’ races on Hawaii’s 2024 General Election ballot, but this year it is also literally the case.

There are two state constitutional amendments (ConAms) that will appear on the ballot that deal directly with equality and justice.

Question No. 1 — Equality

The first ConAm question deals with Article I of the Hawaii Constitution. It’s in the Bill of Rights, specifically Section 23.

Section 23 gave the Legislature the ability to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples, a power that they did not exercise because the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in December 1999 that the Legislature had already done so in 1994 legislation.

Section 23 was added in 1998 in direct response to Baehr v. Miike (originally Baehr v. Lewin), a Hawaii State Supreme Court Case. This was the first time (and hopefully the last) that the state of Hawaii’s Bill of Rights was amended to take away rights from citizens instead of granting them like every other section.

The 1993 Baehr v. Miike decision was the first victory in a state supreme court case, or any court case for that matter, in the fight for marriage equality in the world at the time. This victory would give hope to LGBTQIA+ communities everywhere that marriage equality could be attainable in our lifetime.

Fast-forward to 2013 when, during the Second Special Session of the Hawaii State Legislature, marriage equality became the law of the land in the Aloha State. Since then thousands of same-sex couples have married. In doing so they helped strengthen Hawaii’s economy with their wedding ceremonies, and society in general, for queer citizens are more productive when they have the same rights and protections as our straight/cisgender counterparts.

The year 2024 is beyond time to undo the mistake of the past. This is our opportunity to remove bigotry from our Bill of Rights. We can do that by flipping our ballots over and voting yes on question No. 1, which reads as follows: 

“Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislature’s authority to reserve marriage to opposite—sex couples?”

If question No. 1 passes, then Section 23 will be deleted from the Bill of Rights and return our state’s constitution to its original form that gave the world its first ruling in favor of marriage equality. If it fails, then marriage equality will still be the law of the land but bigotry will still be in our Bill of Rights.

Question No. 2 — Justice 

The second ConAm question has to do with the appointment and confirmation process for state judges. Presently there is one process for Supreme Court Justices, Intermediate Court of Appeals and Circuit Court Judges, and a separate different process for District Court Judges. This ConAm is seeking to make consistent the process for appointing and confirming all of our State Court Judges.

The question on the ballot is quite a long one, due to the nature of the subject, it starts off with:

“Shall the Constitution of the State of Hawaii be amended to make the appointment and confirmation process for district court judges the same as the appointment and confirmation process for supreme court justices and intermediate court of appeals and circuit court judges …”

The question then lists four brief sections of what the ConAm propose.

If the ConAm passes it will do away with the process used for District Court judges and use the process currently used for all other state judges. This may not seem like a big deal but for the public to have to learn two different processes to follow along how judges are appointed and confirmed in our state is a bigger barrier than necessary. Anything that we all can do to lower the barriers and encourage public participation in the confirmation process, I for one welcome with open arms.

If the ConAm fails, then we keep the status quo and the public will continue to have to learn two different procedures to have their voices heard in the state judge confirmation process.

Be An Informed Voter

To learn more about these ConAms as well as all the candidates that will appear on the general election ballot, the Hawaii State Office of Elections has released its 2024 General Election Guide.

The guide is available in English, Hawaiian, Chinese, Ilocano, and Tagalog.

While you are at the Office of Elections’ website, you can also sign up to track your ballot. This free service will alert you either via your choice of email, text, and/or phone call, when your ballot has been created and again when it has been received and ready to be counted. This way whether you mailed your ballot back in or used a drop box you know the status of your ballot.

Your ballot needs to be received by your county’s election office no later than 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.

If you are mailing your ballot back it is recommended that you put your ballot in the mail by Nov. 1, if not earlier. After that date, use a county drop box to find your nearest drop box. Click here to learn where the boxes and voting service centers are located in your county.