Here i describe the process to register as a delegate to the convention called by the new entity Na‘i Aupuni.

In my prior post A Call for Nomintating Naʻi Aupuni Delegates to Preserve Hawaiian Unity – Guard Against Unrepresentative Action, i explain my reasons for doing this. However, since one of my aims is to simply make this (or any future process) more truly representative of Kanaka Maoli and (descendants of) Hawaiian Nationals, this guide is for anyone trying to enter in the same process in the next couple weeks.

Election Notice (email)
First, i received an email on Aug 3 from Election Administrator <help@election-america.com> , Subject: “Election Notice”

These are the links in the email:
https://vote.election-america.com/naiaupuni/
https://vote.election-america.com/naiaupuni/nomination.htm

The body of my second email from them contained the Election Code and PIN. You use this to log in to the election system. Note, the first email i received was exactly the same, but missing the Election Code and PIN. They must have send a second email to correct the mistake. Note, my second email was in my “Spam” folder, so i didn’t see it for a couple weeks. If you are missing it, check your “spam” folder.

As for anyone added to Kana’iolowalu without registering directly on their website (your name was added from another list?), i don’t see how you would get an email. Maybe they would send you a mailer via the post office? You should email naiaupuni@election-america.com . If they cannot help, they are not doing their job as the contractor hired by Na’i Aupuni to implement the elections (with your $$$ from OHA).
If you want to register but not agree to the language “unrelinquished sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people and an intent to participate in the process of self-governance”, supposedly you can still register thru the Roll or via OHA’s Registry: http://www.oha.org/registry. You can also try the Kanaʻiolowalu Kōkua Desk.
When you log in, you will see the “Required Information” form, which displays your Name, Address, Phone, Email. There is a section to update your Mailing Address and phone number. Also, you may upload a picture/image file of yourself.

I updated my address as well as uploading a picture (i assume it could be used in a voter guide, but it doesn’t say what it is for at this point). When i selected the JPG file for upload, i thought it didn’t work, but a minute later, the picture appeared – just give it a minute or so, depending on the size.

I click the “Next” button. The text under says: Once you have submitted this application you will receive an email confirmation within 1 day. If you do not receive this confirmation please contact naiaupuni@election-america.com.

Next page: Eligibility Criteria

You have to agree to attend the 8 weeks for the Con-Con from Feb-April 2016. Yes/No.
Also enter your date of birth. I say “Yes” (i have reasonable flexibility with my employer).

Next page: Optional Information

Please answer the following questions. Please note that answers to the questions below will be made public for delegate candidates.

• Please list your Hawaiian ancestry.
• Please list your educational background
• Please list your employment history.
• Please list your criminal record.
• Please write a personal statement.

I assume this is going directly in the voter guide. These seem to be typical questions for candidates to answer, except for the “criminal record” item. In a US Federal or State election, there would be some statutory requirements regarding criminal record of candidates. But this is part of a “new” convention, which may or may not form a “governing entity”. So there is no statutory requirement. I guess that is why the questions are optional. In my case, i do not have a criminal record, but if one did, it would not be disqualifying. But people would want to know, as well as understand the reasons. I will leave it blank, as criminal records are usually public record anyway.

In the Election Notice, http://naiaupuni.org/docs/Naiaupuni_NomNotice_hires.pdf
… it states:

b.optional information relating to Hawaiian ancestry, educational background, employment history, criminal record and a personal statement limited to 300 words.

However, on the web form, the limit is 600 characters. It is in no way possible to fit 300 words into 600 characters. It is about 100 words. Please increase your field size limit as soon as possible. There is no way to put a meaningful statement to voters in that space. So i have to add the statement;

A statement of 600 characters is far too small for voters to make decisions. Go to http://forums.hekili.net/c/elections to view candidates true statements.

These kinds of shenanigans are exactly why we need our own open sites for dialog and organizing. Any delegate candidates can go to forums.hekili.net today and submit their full statements.

OK, i enter all the details, Save, and go to “Next”.

Next page: Nominations

Please enter the names of ten eligible voters that you hereby represent have in writing nominated you as a delegate candidate.

You can view a current list of eligible voters from the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission here.

Once your application has been successfully received. You may review the application but not make changes.

So this is where we submit names of people who nominate you. It is on you to get them to support you and have done it in writing. At this point, i will stop this post, since i do not yet have the 10 supporters. But it is clear the registration is not complete until then.

I hope this is helpful to any and all potential delegates to the Naʻi Aupuni convention. Please share with all who want to break open this process!

-Raul Nohea Goodness

Update: since there is no written form supplied for the 10 names to nominate, i created one myself. Download it here, print out copies for people to sign, or else have them. PDF version and Word docx version.

Update 2: there is a new forum at http://forums.hekili.net/c/elections where potential delegates may solicit nominations, and supporters may pledge to support.

Update 3: here are the last steps in the process, just for completeness:

On Sept 14, 2015, i logged back in to enter my 10 supporters for nomination. I noticed the personal statement field size was increased from 600 characters (about 100 words) to 1200 characters (about 200 words).

I entered my 10 supporters names, who i had previously checked against the kanaiolowalu.com/list and also had letters in writing. This is another situation where this process deviates from generally accepted election systems. Normally when a candidate files nomination papers, they do need to include a minimum number of signatures. However, in the Na’i Aupuni case, 10 are required (minimum), but only 10 slots are available for submission. This means if any one is contested and invalidated, the nomination can be invalidated.

For my own submissions, there were a couple cases where the legal name on Kana’iolowalu was incorrect (typo). In those cases, i listed the correct legal name. We shall see what happens…

In contrast, typical nominations list a minimum number of signatures, but allow and encourage more than the minimum, since some are expected to be invalid.

The State of Hawaii’s Signature Requirements are listed here:
http://elections.hawaii.gov/candidates/signature-requirement/

Candidates are encouraged to file early and obtain more signatures than required in anticipation of invalid or unqualified signatories. Once a nomination paper is filed, candidates will not be allowed to add more signatures.

So this is another irregularity in the electoral process to contest, possibly leading to the invalidation of potential nominees.

Continuing on, after submission, you must declare the information submitted is correct:

Next, this is the final submission, after which no changes may be made:

After submission, you receive a final “thank you” page, and an email copy of the submission.

I leave this step–by-step posting for the historical record.

Pau.

Today, i launched Hekili Forums / http://forums.hekili.net – a site intended for Native Hawaiians / Kanaka Maoli and Hawaiian Nationals to discuss issues surrounding forming a legitimate government, regardless of the mechanism or process.

Secondly, it can also be used as a central, public forum for potential delegates to declare themselves as candidates for delegates to the Con-Con / ‘Aha organized by Na’i Aupuni

• This site is intended to be used primarily by people who self-identify as Native Hawaiians, Hawaiian Nationals, or as part of a Hawaiian family.
• The web site will be a public forum
• Please bring your constructive questions, comments, and discussion. Criticizing ideas is fair, but insulting people is not.
• We reserve the right to moderate post which go outside the rules or topic of the site.

This site is non-commercial and always will be. It is my kuleana. I invite community members from different groups to help build this site together.

Mahalo Nui Loa to Ryan S. and Pi, who inspired the idea for online discussion forums for these issues.

 

This site is a tool intended to assist in the path towards unity for kanaka maoli and Hawaiian people.

More specifically, I am compelled to look for a path toward Hawaiian unity, good governance, and preservation and growth of our shared assets, in order to reassert our independent control of our culture, lands, and our people’s future.

The issues at hand today in August 2015:

• Act 195 and Kana’iolowalu
• Na’i Aupuni and organizing an ‘Aha
• US Dept. of Interior proposed rule-making for federal recognition

These are the recent formal steps taken by the State of Hawaii and the U.S. Federal government. Their desired outcome is to declare Native Hawaiians as indigenous people, and create an explicit “trust” relationship over us, but implicitly it ignores the more significant history of the relationship between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the U.S. as equals. These forces are going forward and are now getting ready to “check the box” of the consent of Native Hawaiians. It will go forward unless we are engaged to stop it, from inside and out. I am just a regular working guy until now, but I find myself “in” now because Na’i Apupuni emailed me to nominate delegates (with no info or tools on organizing around anything).

I do believe Hawaiians must find a way to work together and re-form our nation. That nation should be pono  – representing all hawaiians who should be a part of it. In that spirit, i signed up for Kana’iolowalu in good faith, knowing the process was imperfect. As it became more evident that only a fraction of eligible Hawaiians were participating, my concerns over a truly representative process grew. Further, the push by OHA to go forward with electing delegates for the ‘Aha caused me to understand there could be a new calamity approaching our people. Having signed up, i cannot let the the process go forward without participating to a better outcome.

I once learned practices are based on principles, and principles are based on values. We share the same values. Let’s take this as an opportunity to have a true dialogue, instead of talking at each other. But let’s not skip ahead to any “solution” without a true consensus.

The OHA-driven process is moving towards its initial desired outcome: federal recognition of Native Hawaiians as indigenous peoples, with a government-to-government relationship (within a nation). Putting aside the multiple reasons why a pre-cooked DOI solution is undesirable, the more significant point is that the process is not representative. Hawaiians who disagree (asserting the Kingdom of Hawaii’s continued independence) have largely chosen not to participate. Most have not. However, with the process going forward (with not much transparency), it becomes far more likely that a few people close to OHA will be forming a governing entity that would fast-track federal recognition and even transfer the Crown lands to this new entity. This is not a recipe for good outcomes, in any country. Maybe I’m wrong, but trust in each other is extremely low right now, and we need a path toward rebuilding it. 

We were once united in a common culture, language, territory, and set of values, and that is the desired outcome. No one can be better stewards of our interests than ourselves. Let us unite first, and only later negotiate from a position of strength.

This is what i am calling for today, for the sake of unity:

• A Hawaiian government must represent the majority of its people (kanaka maoli or descendants of Kingdom of Hawaii citizens)
• If it represents only a fraction of Native Hawaiians, it shall not make any irreversible agreements regarding federal recognition or control of the trust lands.
• If delegates at this ‘Aha try to create a government with powers to give up our claims as an independent nation, or control of lands, they will cause a permanent division in our people.
• We need “guarantors” at this ‘Aha – people who will stand for representing the will of the majority of Hawaiians, for creating the best process, instead of skipping directly to an outcome (federal recognition or otherwise). If they cannot, they should only do more efforts to get the participation, or else disband with no agreement.

How do we achieve trust while preserving our unity? Follow this tactical steps:

• If you are kanaka maoli on the Kana’iolowalu list and can participate in Na’i Aupuni, run as a delegate, or nominate a “guarantor” delegate (each needs 10 nominations before Sept 15). After then, vote for a guarantor delegate– someone committed to fixing the process instead of skipping straight to a “solution”.
• If you are Hawaiian not on Kana’iolowalu by choice or by that list’s definition, but have ohana who are on the roll, please share this information with them, so that we have some inside this con-con while you protest outside the process.
• If anyone else want to use this site as a public means to become a Na’i Aupuni delegate and get the 10 nominations, please submit a comment and i will use this site to do so.
• if you are fighting this whole Kana’iolowalu process from outside, keep it up. But please respect those who find themselves in the flawed process but still want to do what is right.

Even if i get no other nominations, i will provide a step-by-step guide of the nomination process on this web site shortly. I invite others to use this guide in the next weeks before the Sept 15 closing.

I am not part of any Native Hawaiian political organization, nor any US or State of Hawaii group. My career for the past 20 years had been as a Internet/Web Software Developer in NYC (resident of Brooklyn, NY, so i will be in the out-of-state group). I was raised on Maui until i was 18 and went to school in Massachusetts. I own and maintain my family home in Wailuku, Maui, and am a part-time resident. I just find myself in this place and want to do my part for the “true” Au puni.

If this approach speaks to your manaʻo, puʻuwai, or naʻau, please share with them.

Me Ke Aloha,

– Raul Nohea Goodness