2021 Hawaiian general election

An **election** was held in Hawaii on 10 April 2021 to elect all members of the House of Representatives. A snap election was requested by Kenzie Kanazawa on 1 February 2021, following the formation of the Green-Progressive Party that day. Her government remained in tact, but Kanazawa requested the snap election to allow for voters to "profess their views on the situation." Queen Keʻalohilani accepted the request, suspending parliament and setting the snap election's date for 10 April 2021.

In the lead-up to the election, the newly formed Green-Progressive Party were expected to see great success, with continuous strong polling due to their successful creation of a coalition between educated, center-left, wealthier urban voters and rural, poorer voters. The success of the Green-Progressive Party was expected to come at the expense of the Hawaii National Party and Workers Party, as they began eating into their target demographics. With new leadership in the Democratic-Conservative Party, the party was additionally hoping to pick up more seats from voters who supported Louise MacPherson but left the party, largely for the Hawaii National Party, during the tenure of John Unglert as leader.

At the conclusion of the election, the Workers Party proved to be the biggest losers, losing 16 seats and becoming only the fourth-largest party in parliament, their worst result in Hawaiian history. The Hawaii National Party also lost a number of seats, at 11, but remained the largest party in parliament. The Green-Progressive Party saw monumental success, receiving 51 seats while becoming the second-largest party in parliament and largest left-leaning party. The Democratic-Conservative Party and Ko Makou Hawaiʻi both saw minor, but noticeable, gains in their seat counts.

Following the certification of election results, Queen Keʻalohilani invited Kanazawa to form her second ministry, owing to the fact that the Hawaii National Party maintained a plurality in parliament despite their losses. She later announced her intention to form a grand coalition with the Green-Progressive Party; the second Kanazawa ministry was later sworn in on 30 April 2021. Due to widespread losses, Paul Donovan resigned as party chairperson of the Workers Party, triggering a leadership election.

## Date

A snap election was requested by Kenzie Kanazawa on 1 February 2021, following the formation of the Green-Progressive Party that day. Her government remained in tact, but Kanazawa requested the snap election to allow for voters to "profess their views on the situation." Queen Keʻalohilani accepted the request, suspending parliament and setting the snap election's date for 10 April 2021.

## Electoral system

### Constituencies

The 185 members of the House of Representatives are elected in seven electoral constituencies, corresponding with the main Hawaiian Islands.

The constituencies of Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu conduct their elections using open party lists and proportional representation, where political parties construct a list of candidates to stand in each constituency. Voters cast their ballot for an entire list, and may cross out names or rearrange the order of the list if they wish. Seats are then allocated using the d'Hondt method, with a 3% electoral threshold.

The constituencies of Kauai, Lanai, and Molokai conduct their elections using single transferrable vote, where political parties select candidates to stand in each constituency but do not place them in an order. Voters then select one candidate to vote for in addition to several back-up choices – in Kauai, voters must select at least seven back-ups, while in Molokai, they must select at least three, and in Lanai, at least two. The least popular candidate will be eliminated and their votes transferred based on voters' marked back-up preferences. Eliminations continue until enough candidates are declared elected or until there are only as many remaining candidates as there are unfilled seats, at which point the remaining candidates are declared elected.

In the constituency of Niihau, first-past-the-post voting is used. Political parties can nominate a single candidate to run, while each voter will receive one ballot to cast for one candidate. The candidate with the most votes, regardless of whether they obtain a majority, will be elected.

### Eligibility

Only Hawaiian citizens who are aged 18 or older on the day of the election may vote or stand as candidates. Candidates in all constituencies but Oahu must reside in the constituency they are standing for election in; candidates in Oahu may reside in any constituency. Voting-eligible Hawaiians who are residing abroad may also vote, but their ballots must be mailed-in at least three days prior to the date of the election. Hawaiians abroad will vote in whichever constituency they last resided, or if they never resided in Hawaii, where their last Hawaiian resident ancestor resided.

## Contesting parties

The following parties were represented in parliament following the 2018 election, and are standing in the 2021 election.

The following party was not represented in parliament, but is expected to win seats in the 2021 election:

* Green-Progressive Party (Social liberalism)

## Aftermath

Following the announcement of the results, it emerged that the Hawaii National Party had won the election after amassing 62 seats; while this gave them a plurality, they had lost 11 seats since the 2018 election, making them also one of the election's biggest losers. As they still held a plurality, it was highly likely that Kenzie Kanazawa would continue to serve as prime minister, and she was granted a mandate by Queen Keʻalohilani following the certification of election results.

After receiving a mandate, Kanazawa announced that the HNP would look into a grand coalition with the Green-Progressive Party or a three-party coalition with the Workers Party and Ko Makou Hawaiʻi, also ruling out the possibility of negotiating a coalition with the Democratic-Conservative Party. Shortly after her announcement, the Workers Party announced that they had declined the offer to begin negotiations, so Kanazawa formally opened negotiations with solely the Green-Progressive Party on 12 April 2021. On 19 April, it emerged that both parties had reached a deal, and had signed their coalition agreement. Kanazawa and Olivia Abe later began discussing ministerial appointments. The second Kanazawa ministry was later announced on 30 April, and sworn in by The Queen later that day.