The Hawaii Constitution is the fundamental governing document of the state of Hawaii.
Features
Though Hawaii follows the statehood model of the U.S. government, its constitutional government is reminiscent of the constitutional monarchy of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1840. The government structure is decided by the state constitution, which divides the government into three branches: the executive, legislative and judiciary.
Background
The current (and first) Hawaii Constitution as a state of the United States was adopted by voters on June 27, 1959.
The first draft of the state constitution was created by a constitutional convention in 1949 and approved by voters in 1950. With three amendments, that version was approved by Congress on March 18, 1959, and adopted by voters on June 27, 1959. It went into effect on August 21, 1959, when the president issued a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the United States.
The current constitution has been amended 269 times.
The most recent amendment to the Hawaii Constitution was approved by voters in 2016.
Hawaii does not feature a process for initiated constitutional amendments. Thus, amendments in Hawaii can be put on the ballot through referral by the legislature or by a constitutional convention.
