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Editor’s note: Hawaii voters just can’t seem to get excited about elections. Voter turnout is generally among the lowest in the nation. Incumbents almost always win. And this year saw a marked drop-off in the number of people who are even running for office. That’s prompted our “Let The Sunshine In” writers to begin exploring ideas that could encourage people to participate in the democratic process rather than being turned off by it. We welcome your suggestions and a robust discussion in the comments section as we go along.

I recently wrote a column questioning why Hawaii primary voters have to choose candidates from only one political party. This column is about those parties and what they say they stand for, since voters have little choice but to pick one for the Aug. 10 election.

Full disclosure: I have voted Democrat, Republican and independent over the years. And I respect that political parties have been active in our country since its founding, even though the framers “were very concerned about not creating crippling dissension within our political system,” .

This analysis is drawn from the platforms, values, resolutions, press releases and other materials posted online for Hawaii’s two major political parties and two minor parties that are usually on the ballot. It all totals well over 20,000 words, so I’ll focus on the primary takeaways.

Let’s start with the state’s long-dominant party.

Democratic Party Of Hawaii

“At the heart of our party lies a fundamental conviction that our citizens must not only be free, but they must live in a fair society,” according to the values of local Democrats, which is stated . “These principles must always be protected.”

Click on and it will lead you to a two-parter. The first section reads, “Our party stands for liberty, social and economic justice, protection of the environment, and respect for the dignity and worth of each individual.” This section is accompanied by 12 briefly delineated planks: a strong economy, strengthening agriculture, attaining universal health care and supporting Native Hawaiians, the military, veterans and so forth.

At its state convention in May, Dems , which is much more detailed. Much of it is unsurprising, given the party’s history and policies, and even boilerplate.

It is no surprise, for example, that the party believes all workers have the right to form a union to collectively bargain with employers. The bond between labor and party has been a Hawaii reality for some 80 years now.

The party also believes that housing “is a human right” and so supports policies to help all “regardless of ability to pay.”

Safe and efficient transportation infrastructure is also deemed a “necessity,” which involves supporting “more fuel-efficient vehicles, affordable mass transit and well-identified bike lanes.”

And Democrats believe government officials “should be held to the highest ethical standards.” They also support full transparency in all government functions, and full public financing of elections.

Platforms are aspirational, not obligatory. Democrats in the Hawaii Legislature killed public-financing bills two years in a row now. Housing costs remain sky-high for many income groups, traffic is getting worse and we still burn way too much fossil fuel. And the top political corruption scandals of the past few years have mostly involved Democrats.

Just because a goal has not been fulfilled does not mean it goes away, of course. Many platform positions understandably remain perennial.

Generally speaking, party platforms do not change dramatically from election to election. It’s that often illustrate what’s top of mind and are invariably influenced by current events.

Democrats adopted no less than 35 at their May convention, including these:

• Urging a Constitutional Amendment to Eliminate the Electoral College and Instead Elect U.S. Presidents and Vice Presidents by Equal Vote Count Per Voter
• Urging the U.S. Senate to Eliminate its Filibuster Rule Requiring a Super Majority of Votes and Instead Insist on Democracy with Simple Majority Rule
• Urging President Biden to Take Specific Actions to Achieve Peace in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem
• Urging the Establishment of Ranked Choice Voting for all Hawaii Elections
• Supporting Safe Management of Ash and Debris Especially from the August 2023 Maui Wildfires

Of the five I listed, only the last one seems doable, in my view. But hope springs eternal.

Democrats also feature links on their website to positions not found among the other local parties, such as a comprehensive , a section on , separate pages for its (e.g., labor, kupuna, women) and even a hawking logo-emblazoned apparel, mugs, buttons and bumper stickers.

Hawaii Republican Party

The GOP : It includes a Land of the Free Beverage Cooler, a Party of Kuhio! T-shirt and a Make Hawaii Great Again hat (the latter two items are red, naturally).

“We oppose the concept that the state is sovereign over the affairs of men, the family, or the church,” the of the website explains. “We believe that government properly exists by the consent of the governed and must be restrained from intruding into the freedoms of its citizens. The function of government is not to grant rights, but to protect the unalienable, God-given rights of life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness of all.”

Among the party’s key principles are the following:

• strict adherence to the original language and intent of the Declaration of Independence and the constitutions of the United States and of Hawaii;
• sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God, which should be equally protected from fertilization to natural death;
• self-sufficient families, founded on the traditional marriage of a biological man and biological woman; and
• the unalienable right of the people to defend themselves, their family, and their property.

Like Dems, the also held its state convention in May. Its these planks:

• support for prayer and the pledge of allegiance in schools and public places;
• opposition to mandates, lockdowns and restrictions on mobility, ability to gather and peacefully protest;
• opposition to censorship of speech or postings except for engagement in illegal activities. All other speech, “even that which hurts another person’s feelings,” is allowable;
• support for conceal and carry for law-abiding citizens; and
• opposition to “the unjust and unconstitutional” treatment of citizens who attended and assembled at a political rally on January 6, 2020 (note to readers: that’s not a typo) “being tracked down, and incarcerated without being given access to videos that would exonerate them, and incarcerated, for extended periods, without trial in clear violation of their constitutional rights.”

The GOP also wants to limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress, repeal the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, withdraw from the United Nations, oppose socialism, communism and all Marxist ideologies; mandate deportation for non-citizen gang members, drug dealers, human traffickers and other criminals; and eliminate same-day voter registration and mail-in voting.

Additionally — and more locally — Hawaii Republicans want an independent forensic audit of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit, oppose government subsidies and mandates financially incentivizing electric vehicles and want to bring back the Super Ferry.

“We are an island state,” the platform states. “It is difficult for families to visit their loved ones when there are only airline connections to neighboring islands. Most countries that are composed of multiple islands have a ferry system.”

Lastly, adopted by the party in May are ones affirming support for Israel and condemning the Hamas attack, and another that seeks to oust Hawaii Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago. Nearly half of the resolutions are focused on “ensuring election integrity” in local elections.

The Greens And Libertarians

I don’t know how many party members read their own party platforms, let alone support them. But it’s obvious that the two major parties have major differences, and it helps explain why bipartisanship is fading fast.

But there are two other parties to choose from, even if they typically field few candidates.

In brief, the (which held its state convention last month) names as its four core principles ecological wisdom, grassroots democracy, social and economic justice and nonviolence.

Party values, which stem from those principles, :

• “Human societies must function with the understanding that we are part of nature, not separate from nature. We must maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet.”
• “Centralization of wealth and power contributes to social and economic injustice, environmental destruction, and militarization. We seek a restructuring of social, political and economic institutions away from a system controlled by and mostly benefiting the powerful few, to a democratic, less bureaucratic system.”
• “We have inherited a social system based on male domination of politics and economics. We call for the replacement of the cultural ethics of domination and control with cooperative ways of interacting that respect differences of opinion and gender.”

The , meanwhile, stands in opposition “to the initiation of force” to achieve political or social goals.

The says, “The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from any government or any authoritarian power.”

Among its seven platform planks are ones stating that property rights deserve respect and protection, that essential government services should be provided by user fees and other voluntary payment, that school and state should be separated, and that adults should be left free to make decisions for the conduct of their own lives as long as they “do not aggress” against the equal rights of others.

“Thus, people should be free to make their own decisions regarding sex, drugs, gambling, and other activities, that do not infringe on the rights of others,” the platform, adopted in 2015, reads.  

By the way, there are four other parties that qualified for Hawaii’s ballot this year: ,, and We The People (sorry, there’s no link). Only We The People has candidates in the running, and there are just two of them.

And if you’re looking for the Aloha Aina Party, American Shopping Party or the Constitution Party, none qualified to be on the ballot this time around.