2024 Hawaii Amendment 1
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox referendum
|title=Hawaii Remove Legislature Authority to Limit Marriage to Opposite-Sex Couples Amendment
| country = Hawaii
|location=Hawaii
|date={{Start date|2024|11|5}}
|yes=268,038
|no=211,142
| total = 522,236
| electorate = 860,868
| turnoutpct = 55.66
| map = {{switcher |310px |County results |310px|Congressional district results |310px|Precinct results |default=1}}
| map_caption =
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
Yes
{{legend|#47729E|70–80% |border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
{{legend|#7D9CBB|60–70% |border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
{{legend|#B6C8D9|50–60% |border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
{{col-3}}
No
{{legend|#32320C|90–100% |border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
{{legend|#5D5D2D|80–90% |border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
{{legend|#8B8B54|70–80% |border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
{{legend|#DEDEBD|50–60% |border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
{{col-3}}
Other
{{legend|#808080|No votes |border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
{{col-end}}
| notes = Source: State of Hawaii Office of Elections{{cite web |title=Hawaii Statewide Election Results |url=https://elections.hawaii.gov/election-results/ |publisher=Hawaii Office of Elections |access-date=2024-11-10}}
}}
A referendum on the Amendment 1 to the Constitution of Hawaii was held on 5 November 2024. The amendment repealed the Hawaii's legislature's ability to limit marriage to heterosexual couples,{{cite news |title=Hawaii Amendment 1 Election Results: Right to Marry |work=The New York Times |date=November 5, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-hawaii-amendment-1-right-to-marry.html |access-date=9 November 2024}} reversing the 1998 Hawaii Amendment 2.{{cite news |last1=Blair |first1=Chad |title=Hawaii Voters Supporting Same-Sex Marriage Ballot Measure |url=https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/11/hawaii-voters-supporting-same-sex-marriage-ballot-measure/ |access-date=9 November 2024 |agency=Honolulu Civil Beat |date=6 November 2024}} The majority of the voters backed the measure; it succeeded in all four of Hawaii's major counties. The wording of the ballot language proved confusing to a number of voters, who were unsure of what the amendment accomplished.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/video/2024/10/22/many-hawaii-residents-are-confused-over-question-this-years-ballot-about-same-sex-marriage/|title=Many Hawaii residents are confused over a question on this year's ballot about same-sex marriage|date=October 22, 2024|via=www.hawaiinewsnow.com}} The amendment passed simultaneously with similar ones in California and Colorado.{{cite news |last1=Henni |first1=Janine |title=3 States Just Boosted Same-Sex Marriage Protections in Case Supreme Court Overturns Landmark Ruling |url=https://people.com/same-sex-marriage-ballot-measures-california-colorado-hawaii-8741494 |access-date=9 November 2024 |agency=People.com |date=7 November 2024}}{{cite web |title=HB2802 HD1 |url=https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=2802&year=2024 |website=Hawai‘i State Legislature |access-date=9 November 2024}}
Background
In 1993,{{cite web |last1=McCall |first1=Malissa |title=The First Major Same-Sex Marriage Case: Baehr v. Lewin (Miike) |url=https://www.findlaw.com/family/marriage/1993-the-hawaii-case-of-baehr-v-lewin.html |website=FindLaw |access-date=9 November 2024}} the Supreme Court of Hawaii ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage violated the state's constitution in Baehr v. Miike. However in 1998, Amendment 2 was approved via a referendum, allowing the Hawaii legislature to ban same-sex marriage.{{cite news |last1=Saghal |first1=Kanav |title=Revisiting American Queer Legal History |url=https://vidhilegalpolicy.in/blog/revisiting-american-queer-legal-history/ |access-date=9 November 2024 |agency=Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy |date=11 May 2023}} Hawaii ultimately legalized same-sex marriage in 2013, becoming the 15th state to do so and preceding the Obergefell v. Hodges by two years.{{cite news |last1=Blair |first1=Chad |title=Hawaii voters asked to ensure protection of same-sex marriage |url=https://apnews.com/us-news/hawaii-marriage-constitutions-lgbtq-honolulu-e820bc51fbbbd0429e01d0c22c102189 |access-date=9 November 2024 |work=AP News |date=10 September 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Sanburn |first1=Curt |title=The Painful Path to Same-Sex Marriage in Hawaii |url=https://www.honolulumagazine.com/the-painful-path-to-same-sex-marriage-in-hawaii/ |access-date=9 November 2024 |agency=Honolulu Magazine |date=5 March 2014}} Following the United States Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization and hints by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas towards reconsidering Obergefell v. Hodges,{{cite news |last1=Forgey |first1=Quint |last2=Gerstein |first2=Josh |title=Justice Thomas: SCOTUS 'should reconsider' contraception, same-sex marriage rulings |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/24/thomas-constitutional-rights-00042256 |access-date=9 November 2024 |agency=Politico |date=24 June 2022}} activists have raised concerns over the ruling's future. Ballot measures in Hawaii, California and Colorado were intended to safeguard same-sex marriage if the decision was ever overturned.{{cite news |last1=Barrett |first1=Maura |last2=Lukasiewicz |first2=Halle |title=Worried by fall of Roe v. Wade, organizers get same-sex marriage on the ballot in three states |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/same-sex-marriage-ballot-measures-vote-2024-election-rcna176398 |access-date=9 November 2024 |agency=NBC News |date=22 October 2024}}
Legislative process
[[File:2024-hawaii-amendment-1-house-vote.svg|thumb|250px|Votes in the House of Representatives, by district:
{{legend|#B6C8D9|Voted for}}
{{legend|#D1D1D1|Abstained/Not present}}
{{legend|#DEDEBD|Against}}]]
[[File:2024-hawaii-amendment-1-senate-vote.svg|thumb|250px|Votes in the House of Representatives, by district:
{{legend|#B6C8D9|Voted for}}
{{legend|#D1D1D1|Abstained/Not present}}
{{legend|#DEDEBD|Against}}]]
{{Excerpt|Same-sex marriage in Hawaii|Constitutional amendments|paragraphs=2|file=no|hat=no}}
Position
=Parties=
The Democratic Party of Hawaii backed the amendment,{{cite news |last1=Tsai |first1=Michael |title=Bill would repeal Legislature authority on same-sex marriage |url=https://spectrumlocalnews.com/hi/hawaii/news/2024/03/06/bill-would-repeal-legisalture-authority-on-same-sex-marriage |access-date=11 November 2024 |agency=Spectrum News |date=7 March 2024}} while the Republican Party of Hawaii neither endorsed nor opposed it.{{cite news |last1=Beran |first1=Liam |title=Why Marriage Equality Is Back on the Ballot |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/marriage-equality-ballot-proposals-2024-election/ |access-date=11 November 2024 |agency=The Nation |date=31 October 2024}}
=Current and former elected officials=
Josh Green, the Governor of Hawaii, supported the amendment, as did the former Governors David Ige and John D. Waiheʻe III. It was also backed by Senator Brian Schatz and Representative Ed Case, as well as former Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Justice Steven Levinson and numerous other officials.{{cite web |title=OUR ALLIES |url=https://www.yesformarriage.org/endorsed |website=Yes For Marriage |access-date=11 November 2024}}
=Organizations=
Organizations such as ACLU of Hawaiʻi, Japanese American Citizens League, Hawai`i LGBT Legacy Foundation, Hawai'i Health & Harm Reduction Center, Council For Native Hawaiian Advancement, Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, Change 23 Coalition, Papa Ola Lōkahi, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hawai'i State AFL-CIO, Hawaii Workers Center, Hawaii Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, Rainbow Family 808, Highgate Hawaii, Equality HI, Common Cause Hawaii, O'ahu Jewish 'Ohana and Interfaith Alliance of Hawai'i supported the amendment.
Results
=Results by county=
"Yes" performed moderately well across the state, winning four of five counties and performing the best in Hawai'i County.{{cite news |title=Hawaii Amendment 1 Election Results: Right to Marry |work=The New York Times |date=November 5, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-hawaii-amendment-1-right-to-marry.html |access-date=27 November 2024}}{{cite web |title=GENERAL ELECTION 2024 - State of Hawaii - Statewide Precinct Report |url=https://elections.hawaii.gov/wp-content/results/precinct.pdf |access-date=2025-04-01}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
! County ! Yes # ! Yes % ! No # ! No % |
| align=center
! style="background:#acf; color:#000;" | Hawai'i | style="background:#acf; color:#000;" | 43,973 | style="background:#acf; color:#000;" | 57.31% | 32,749 | 42.69% |
| align=center
! style="background:#acf; color:#000;" |Honolulu | style="background:#acf; color:#000;" |177,669 | style="background:#acf; color:#000;" |55.64% | 141,655 | 44.36% |
| align=center
! style="background:#fea; color:#000;" | Kalawao | 7 | 46.67% | style="background:#fea; color:#000;" |8 | style="background:#fea; color:#000;" |53.33% |
| align=center
! style="background:#acf; color:#000;" | Kauai | style="background:#acf; color:#000;" |14,167 | style="background:#acf; color:#000;" |54.06% | 12,039 | 45.94% |
| align=center
! style="background:#acf; color:#000;" | Maui | style="background:#acf; color:#000;" | 32,229 | style="background:#acf; color:#000;" | 56.61% | 24,699 | 43.39% |
== By congressional district ==
"Yes" won both congressional districts.{{Cite web |title=Statement of Vote |url=https://elections.hawaii.gov/wp-content/results/hi_sov.pdf |website=elections.hawaii.gov |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250108012940/https://elections.hawaii.gov/wp-content/results/hi_sov.pdf |archive-date=2025-01-08}}
| class="wikitable"
!District !Yes, % !No, % !Representative |
| align=center
! style="background: #B6C8D9;"|{{ushr|Hawaii|1|1st}} | 57% | 43% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Ed Case |
| align=center
! style="background: #B6C8D9;"|{{ushr|Hawaii|2|2nd}} | 55% | 45% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Jill Tokuda |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Noes
{{notelist}}
{{2024 United States elections|state=collapsed}}
Category:Constitution of Hawaii
Category:Same-sex marriage ballot measures in the United States