Aloha Reader,

Dark money is everywhere in this election year, and so is the corruption it buys. All of the candidates we are supporting with the Blue Wave initiative are being attacked relentlessly in ads funded by an unprecedented barrage of Super PAC (political action committee) spending. The funders are tech broligarchs, including Elon Musk, artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency titans, and right-wing industrialists like the Koch Brothers. (And the details are untraceable, thanks to Citizens United.)

This is why we can't have affordable housing, health care we can count on, groceries that don't break the bank, or jobs that pay a living wage. When billionaires buy elections, lawmakers answer to them instead of us. Replacing those lawmakers is how we fight back. That's why we show up together, and every action in this newsletter is a way to do it.

In this issue

• Act 11 — sunshine over dark money — pack the courtroom
• Concerned about election safety — Adopt-a-Drop-Box
• Deep dive on Alaska: Mary Peltola for Senate
• Honolulu charter amendments — democracy at work
• No Dictators — Hands Off My Vote — October 17
• On the radar

Act 11 — sunshine over dark money — pack the courtroom

The lawsuits are heating up. No sooner did we write about the pending court hearing on Act 11, October 13 at 2:30 pm, than the US Chamber of Commerce filed its own lawsuit to block the State from enacting the law. The complaint makes predictable claims that the First Amendment applies to corporations, that the state overreaches, and that Citizens United decision applies due to federal supremacy. All these claims are straightforward to refute.

Then the Hawaiʻi Chamber of Commerce broke ranks. Unlike its national big brother, it supports Act 11 and won't join the lawsuit. Send them a note thanking them for standing up for democracy.

Defending Act 11 falls to Kalikoʻonālani D. Fernandes, Hawaiʻi's Solicitor General — the state's lead lawyer in court cases like this one — who now faces two well-funded opponents at once.

Let's get educated

Representative Della Au Belatti, who we got to know so well during our endorsement process, started the effort to keep the public informed about Act 11 and dark money. She's teaming up with Tom Moore of the Center for American Progress, a leading expert on money in politics. Join these two rockstars for a webinar on Wednesday, October 7, 12–1 pm, as they explain in plain language what happens next in court and how you can help.

TAKE ACTION: Register here​

Show up in court on October 13

Della and Tom's first call to action is to pack the courtroom. We need to make it obvious to all the parties and to the media. We citizens will stand up to dark money, just as our Legislature did when they voted 74–1 to pass Act 11. Dark money can't outspend a people power movement.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: The first hearing is October 13, 2:30 pm, at the Honolulu Federal Courthouse, 300 Ala Moana Blvd #C338, Honolulu, HI 96850, in front of Senior Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi. Plan to arrive early.

Concerned about election safety — Adopt-a-Drop-Box

Feeling overwhelmed about the election? Turn that worry into action. Each step below is a concrete way to do your part and help make democracy work.

1. Watch Judith Wong of the Hawaiʻi League of Women Voters explain the facts about our election security.
2. Make a plan to vote, and even better, vote early. The US Postal Service (USPS) has been slowing down mail, and ballots must be received by November 3. Ask your friends and family to vote early too, especially those out of state.
3. ​Adopt-a-Drop-Box near you. Drive by on your daily commute and check on it — it takes about 10 minutes. That's everyday patriotism: one simple act that helps keep our elections safe.
4. Sign up for Track Your Ballot.
5. Are you a lawyer, or know one? Watch this legal rally on protecting the vote to learn how attorneys can help, including remote options. Then pass it on.
6. Register for your local No Dictators — Hands Off My Vote event.

Help us make sure that the national call to Vote Early on October 17th is a large and joyous celebration of democracy, and that Election Day on November 3rd is quiet and incident-free.

Deep dive on Alaska: Mary Peltola for Senate

Mary Peltola is running for US Senate in Alaska to flip the seat from red to blue. The race is now neck and neck.

​Mary's story resonates with many in Hawaiʻi:

Mary's focus on affordability and fixing the rigged system strikes a chord across the state. Now dark money groups have turned an old story into an attack ad against her in a desperate attempt to rescue her opponent, Dan Sullivan.

Sullivan has backed Trump on every Senate vote where the White House took a position over the last two years. Even Marjorie Taylor Greene unloaded on Sullivan in a Cameo video recorded for one of his own constituents, calling him out over the Epstein files and foreign wars.

Let's help Mary get the focus back on affordability and accountable government supporting working families over billionaires.

TAKE ACTION: Phonebank for Mary on Sundays.​

Honolulu charter amendments — democracy at work

In all, 20 proposed amendments to the Charter of the City and County of Honolulu will appear on Oʻahu ballots. The Charter works as the city's constitution: it sets out how local government is organized, which offices hold which powers, and how residents take part. Democracy is supposed to work this way, where citizens can propose and vote on changes to their basic law. Other counties, please take note.

Four of the 20 proposed amendments are closely aligned with the policy positions of the Indivisible Hawaiʻi Statewide Network (IHSN). We support:

• Question 4: A permanent LGBTQIA+ Commission for Honolulu
• Question 5: Ranked-choice voting for Mayor, City Council and Prosecuting Attorney
• Question 6: Honolulu Police Department (HPD) and federal immigration enforcement
• Question 16: Permanent residents on Honolulu City boards and commissions

IHSN recommends that members consider the remaining questions as they see fit.

Before you leave a question blank

An unmarked row is counted differently depending on the type of question. This year, the ballot has county charter questions. You may have seen state constitutional amendments in previous years.

• State constitutional amendments: a blank counts as a "no."
• Honolulu Charter amendments: a blank isn't counted at all. Only yes and no votes decide the outcome.

If you want a say on a charter question, mark yes or no. Skipping it leaves the decision to everyone else.

If you live and vote on Oʻahu, you'll find IHSN's positions and summaries of all 20 questions in our Honolulu Charter voter guide.

No Dictators — Hands Off My Vote — October 17

October 17 will be a lot of fun for many reasons, as our large rallies usually are. We will celebrate our democracy, each other, and our commitment to vote early. We will be counted as fighters for democracy, along with like-minded folks across the country. We expect to get lots of national press coverage that will help drive electoral turnout.

Be there. Take lots of video and photos and share them widely on social media. Make the message to vote early resonate everywhere. You will make hope and participation contagious. On Oʻahu, you can jump from one joyous event to another: No Dictators at 11 am, then the Pride Parade at 3 pm.

TAKE ACTION: Find your local event and register.

On the radar

• Still no word on Hawaiʻi National Guard
  ​Governor Green has still not responded to calls to bring the 27 National Guard members home from Washington, DC. We're watching and getting tired of waiting.
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• Representative Jill Tokuda visits Waimea today
  ​Rep. Jill Tokuda, who serves Hawaiʻi's 2nd Congressional District (all the neighbor islands plus rural Oʻahu), is traveling the islands to meet with constituents. Today, Sunday, October 4, she joins our Waimea neighbors for Your VOTE Is Your Voice, a conversation about hot issues, voting, the powers of Congress, protecting democracy, and aloha. The gathering location has changed: 3–5 pm at the Thelma Parker Memorial Public and School Library, 67-1209 Mamalahoa Hwy, Waimea. Register for the Waimea event.
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• Maui asks the right questions
  ​Mahalo to Marnie Masuda, lead organizer for Maui Indivisible, for her column in The Maui News on the Maui Police Department (MPD) and its real-time surveillance system. MPD is building a countywide camera network with millions in federal funding, while residents don't know where their data goes or whether it's shared with agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Marnie calls on the County Council to hold public hearings and release all documents, because trust requires transparency.
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• One year of CRUSH ICE Thursdays
  ​Congratulations to Hawaiʻi J20 on a full year of weekly CRUSH ICE protests. Every Thursday for twelve months, they've shown up at the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Atkinson Drive, Honolulu — chins up, fangs out. The crew marked the milestone with an anniversary party. Their Wednesday protest, which started earlier as a Tesla protest, celebrated its own anniversary a few months ago.

We hope to see you at Wednesday's webinar. Act 11 goes to the heart of the corrupt system that brought us to this point, and understanding the fight is how we win it. Then pick at least one more action from this newsletter — sign up for Adopt-a-Drop-Box, make calls for Mary Peltola, or bring a friend to a No Dictators event. Every bit of effort adds up.

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Warmest Aloha

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