Hawaii voters approve state and city ballot initiatives

On Tuesday, voters across the state voted on two proposed amendments to the Hawaii Constitution during the general election.

To successfully amend the state constitution, at least 50% of the total “yes” votes were required. However, a majority of “no” votes would not have made any changes to the constitution.

The first amendment—to remove specific language regarding the state Legislature’s power to preserve marriage only for opposite-sex couples—received 52.1% of the vote, or 228,866 votes, in favor of the amendment.

There were 174,783 votes against, or 39.8%.

According to results released around midnight Wednesday, blank votes totaled 33,943 votes, or 7.7% of the vote, and overvotes totaled 1,677 votes, or 0.4%.

Another state amendment — to make the state Senate’s confirmation process for state district court judges similar to the selection of judges for Hawaii’s district courts, intermediate appellate court and state Supreme Court — received support of 269,261 votes, or 61.3%.

The amendment received 109,379 votes against, or 24.9%. According to the results, there were 60,305 blank votes, or 13.7%, and 324 additional votes, or 0.07%.

As enacted, this amendment allows district court appointments to be automatically considered consensual unless the State Senate rejects the appointment within 30 days.

This change will make Senate confirmation procedures for all state judicial appointments the same, regardless of whether the appointment is made by the governor or the chief justice.

Meanwhile, registered voters in the City and County of Honolulu also released their decisions on four amendments to the city charter.

Honolulu’s ballot items included one regarding a climate change fund for the city and another regarding the reorganization of the city’s Department of Emergency Management.

Oahu voters were also asked whether a commission should oversee the city’s newly formed Ocean Safety Department and whether the City Council should vote on future wage increases.

For the first charter amendment, voters supported the amendment—155,247 votes, or 58.1% of the vote—to approve the creation of a climate resilience fund that would fund preventative, remedial and educational measures related to climate change.

There were 111,783 votes, or 41.9%, against this amendment.

The climate fund will be supported by 0.5% of the city’s estimated annual property tax revenues. Previously, the city did not have a climate resilience fund.

Regarding Charter Amendment 2, voters supported reorganizing DEM—201,264 votes in favor, or 76.5%, to 61,842 votes against, 23.5%—to be similar to other city departments, and that a Citizens Advisory Commission be included in composition of this agency.

The statute would also be amended to update the responsibilities of the DEM director and provide “minimum qualifications” for the position of that director, as well as add an additional requirement of at least five years of responsible administrative experience in emergency management, disaster planning, or public safety management. among other qualifications.

Voters at the ballot box said they want to create an oversight commission affiliated with the Department of Ocean Safety. They cast 173,394 votes in favor, or 65.4%, and 91,655 votes, or 34.6%, against.

Under this amendment, a five-member OSD commission would have the power to make recommendations on the annual budget; analyze your activities and recommend improvements; and appoint or remove a new OSD chief, among other powers.

The latest charter amendment—providing that any future Council salary increases would be capped at 5% per year and requiring future salary increases to be equivalent to the average of the most recent annual salary changes across the City’s various collective bargaining units—gained 246 681 votes. , or 90.6%, were in favor of the change.

According to the results, oppositionists cast 25,744 votes, or 9.5% of the votes.

The vote also means the amended bylaws will remove the Council’s ability to vote on its own promotions.

Currently, salaries for municipal positions, including Council positions, are set by the city salary commission.

In the past, the Council could either accept or reject any part of the commission’s decision, including any part relating to Council members’ own salaries.

Voters would change the charter to require the Salary Commission to pass one ordinance setting salaries for council members and a separate ordinance setting salaries for other city employee positions.

In 2023, the city’s top selectmen received a controversial 64% salary increase — with all but three council members agreeing to a $44,400 pay increase to $113,304, up from $68,904.

As for voter approval of Oahu’s latest charter amendments, city elections administrator Rex Quidilla told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that “they are ratified when the number of votes in favor exceeds the number of votes against.”

“Blanks and re-votes are not taken into account in this part of the calculation,” he added.