Rice

Hawaii holds special elections for trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), who must be Hawaiian and who administer public trust funds set aside for the betterment of “native Hawaiians” and “Hawaiians,” in which only people who meet the blood quantum requirement for “native Hawaiian” or “Hawaiian” may vote. 1 There is a long history behind the use and structure of the public lands trust for the benefit of descendants of the original races inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands, none of which is challenged in this appeal. Rather, we must decide only whether Hawaii may limit those who vote in special trustee elections to those for whose benefit the trust was established.

Harold F. Rice, who is Caucasian and not a beneficiary of the trusts administered by OHA’s trustees, appeals the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Benjamin J. Cayetano, Governor of Hawaii, upholding the voter qualification in a published opinion. 2 Rice v. Cayetano, 963 F.Supp. 1547 (D.Haw.1997). We agree that the franchise for choosing trustees in special elections may be limited to Hawaiians, because Hawaiians are the only group with a stake in the trust and the funds that OHA trustees administer.…