Native Hawaiians unify in order to ‘Vote to Rise’

KAPOLEI, Hawaii—The national nonprofit, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) has opened a five-year voter registration campaign to raise the impact of the Native Hawaiian community on local elections.

“The CNHA Vote-to-Rise campaign has the potential to engage tens of thousands of new voters from our communities in the ballot box on priorities important to our families,” said Michelle Kauhane, CNHA President. “Through the generous investments of local and national funders, we are all in to register every new voter possible.”

Partners include, No Vote No Grumble, APIA Vote, Native Vote and Rock the Vote. One of the CNHA Vote to Rise strategies is its “16 for 2016” that is registering 16 year olds to vote two years from now.

“We are in this for the long haul,” said Jordyn Danner, CNHA Policy Center and Vote to Rise manager. “We aren’t looking to only engage in election years, we want to build a solid pipeline of life long voters right out of high school.”

Danner shared that voter registration is as easy as a text message. “Just text 788683 and type 16 for 2016 or vote to rise in the comment line, and in 2 seconds you get a link to register right from your phone.”

The CNHA Vote-to-Rise campaign is also invested in technology and database systems to build one of the largest most accurate voter databases on Native Hawaiians.

“Data is key,” Danner said. “We are very clear about the data aspect of this work by making sure we are tapping into the best available technology. Phone banking, mapping where our voters live, tracking whether registration is translating to actual votes cast are all important data points that we will invest in.”

“If this kind of community organizing is meaningful to you, come join us,” Kauhane remarked. “Hawaiians will not be at the bottom of voter statistics for long—this initiative intends to change the current reality to reach for what we are fully capable of—an engaged and active voting population in our homelands! It’s exciting.”

If you or the organization you work for would like an inventory of Vote-to-Rise materials to reach potential new voters, email policy@hawaiiancouncil.org or call Jordyn Danner, CNHA Program Manager at 808.596.8155.

CNHA is a national network of Native Hawaiian Organizations, providing assistance in accessing capital and technical resources, and is a policy voice on issues important to Native Hawaiian communities. Its mission is to enhance the cultural, economic, political, and community development of Native Hawaiians.

For more information about CNHA please contact us at 808.596.8155, toll-free at 1.800.709.2642, by e-mail at info@hawaiiancouncil.org, or at www.hawaiiancouncil.org. (PR)