Hawaii Women and Politics — A Sore Subject
08/01/2011
Adrienne LaFrance/Civil Beat
Lazy. Busy. Don’t care.
Those are some of the reasons why some Hawaii women ages 18 to 44 did not register to vote, according to a poll that prompted lawmakers to adopt a resolution encouraging women to participate in politics.
Yet, figures from the elections office reveal more women are registered to vote in Hawaii than men.
As of July 25, there were 348,717 women with active registrations compared with 318,960 men statewide, according to the Honolulu Elections Division. Figures change daily as elections officials update voter rolls. Totals for the number of men and women who exercised their right to vote were not available.
“I think people feel so removed from the process that they feel like it doesn’t make a difference, they don’t know anybody,” said the resolution’s co-sponsor, state Rep. Barbara Marumoto, R-Kaimuki/Waialae/Kahala. “So I think this is a challenge to us lawmakers to make sure people realize that they should participate.”
Honolulu-based QMark Research conducted the poll for the Patsy T. Mink Political Action Committee, which helps elect Democratic pro-choice women to state office.
The telephone and Internet survey quizzed 671 Hawaii women ages 18 to 44 from July to August 2010. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.78 percentage points.
