The state’s electoral votes have gone to Republican presidential candidates only twice in history.ĥ. Currently, there’s only one Republican in Hawaii’s state Senate. Many races in the state are uncontested because the Republicans can’t find candidates to run in them. It’s basically a one-party state: Who wants to vote if it seems like there’s no real choice to be made? Democrats have dominated politics in Hawaii for decades. and Hawaii are like “apples and bananas,” one man told me. In the bigger picture, the time zone issue – and the thousands of miles of ocean that come with it – leave Hawaii feeling detached from national politics. She turned the car around and drove home without voting. One woman who lives on the Big Island of Hawaii told me she was driving from work to her polling place when she heard the winner of a presidential race announced on the radio. By the time its polls close, presidents often have been declared. in Hawaii, it’s midnight in Washington: The Aloha State is six hours behind Eastern Time.
apologized in 1993 for its unlawful takeover of the islands, but resentment remains.ģ. One woman told me that part of her identity as a Native Hawaiian would be diluted if she cast a ballot. to be illegitimately occupying Hawaii, and some don’t vote on principle. Ugly history: A fair number of Native Hawaiian people consider the U.S. If the waves are big, he said, he knows turnout will be low.Ģ. A state representative in Maui said he looks at swell reports before Election Day. One woman told me politics don’t “flow” in oh-so-laid-back Hawaii. It’s true that some people are so wrapped up in Hawaii’s beaches and waves that they don’t care about politics. Surfer apathy: I’ll start with the obvious one. If you have other ideas, I may add them.ġ. If you want to be part of the solution, help us change the list by convincing these five people to vote for the first time, making a pledge to vote or sharing this “Mahalo for Voting!” image on Tumblr or Facebook.īackground: Introducing CNN’s Change the ListĪnd, as if I’m not asking enough already, let me know what you think of this list in the comments section at the bottom of the story. But there are many reasons America’s 50th state doesn’t vote as much as the other 49, plenty of them specific to Hawaii. When I traveled to the state to find out why, I thought most of the problem might be apathy. Hawaii had the lowest voter turnout rate in the United States in 2008, with fewer than half of the eligible population casting ballots.
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