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• Strong candidates often did well among a l l groups, but always best with their own. Weak candidates limped badly everywhere, but showed least weakness among t h e i r own kind. 122/ Fuchs does not think that these manifestations of ethnic p o l i t i c s, however, are aberrations in the American p o l i t i c a l system. Rather, he says that "ethnic claims in p o l i t i c s , far from being un-American, followed the typical American p a t t e r n . " 123/ Unlike Lind, however, he concludes that ethnic factors play a "significant role" (at least in that election) in Hawaiian p o l i t i c s . 124/ Creation of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs A separate i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and unique p o l i t i c a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n for native Hawaiians was r a t i f i e d by a majority of the t o t a l State e l e c t o r a t e in 1978 when key amendments to the State Constitution established the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). By the terms of the new A r t i c l e XII: . . . S e c t i o n 5. There is hereby established an Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs shall hold t i t l e to a l l the real and personal property now or herea f t e r set aside or conveyed to it which shall be held in t r u s t for native Hawaiians and Hawaiians. There shall be a board of trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs elected by qualified voters who are Hawaiians, as provided by law. The board members s h a l l be Hawaiians. There s h a l l be not less than nine members of the board of t r u s t e e s ; provided that each of the following islands have one representative: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii. The board shall select a chairperson from i ts members... The f i r s t OHA election in 1980 was supported by an 80 percent turnout among the more than 55,000 native Hawaiians who had registered to vote in this separate election (see Table 43). More than 100 candidates sought the nine positions on the board of t r u s t e e s . Table 44 shows the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the 1981 Hawaii State Legislature. There were seven part-Hawaiians in the State House of Representatives (14 percent of the t o t a l ) and three in the State Senate (12 percent of the t o t a l ). Summary The population of the State of Hawaii has considerable racial and cultural diversity. From the earliest times, interracial marriage was accepted by the community. As time went on and as different ethnic groups arrived, such marriages became widespread. Native Hawaiians have amonq the highest interracial marriage rates. This racial and ethnic mixture has effects in the political sphere. Since the 1930's no one ethnic group has had an electoral majority, although ethnic factors do play a role in politics in Hawaii. From the time of annexation until the 1930's, native Hawaiians comprised the largest voting block, with an absolute majority of all voters for much of that time. Voter participation amona native Hawaiians was always high,
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