Off The Beat: Voting With Reservations is the Ultimate Cop Out
When the political going gets tough, Hawaii’s elected officials have an easy way out. They vote yes, “with reservations.”
We watched this play out over and over again on the final day of the 2012 Legislature.
And when lawmakers really don’t know how to keep from getting in hot water with the people they need to keep them in office, they punt. When called on to vote they say “kanalua,” which means “to doubt.”
A better translation might be “to dodge.” The votes proceed without them, they can see which way it’s going and, when it comes back around to them, they can make a safe bet.
The “WR” ploy has been the practice of the Legislature for years. It provides political cover when it comes time to face the voters. They can say, hey, so what if I voted yes, I had reservations.
But we’re not sure that even happens. Do lawmakers ever actually get asked by constituents to explain their vote with reservations?
If you have real-world examples of when this happened, we’d love to hear about it. We’ll be interested to see, for instance, how understanding the folks on Molokai will be when they ask Sen. Kalani English about his yes vote, with reservations, on the undersea cable bill. Judging by the video they sent us, we think they’re not buying it.
Shouldn’t we expect more of our lawmakers?
By the time the last day of a 60-day legislative session rolls around, shouldn’t they know the details of an important issue? And if they’re not comfortable with something, shouldn’t they just vote no rather then let it go through?
The Honolulu City Council at least stopped allowing “kanalua” years ago.
Maybe it’s time to hold legislators accountable and not make it so easy for them to take the easy way out. Get rid of kanalua and “with reservations.”
We have no reservations about that.
