A voter must qualify as a Hawaiian in his or her own right, not on the basis of the racial descent of the adoptive parents. Att. Gen. Op. 80-6.

Neither the Fifteenth Amendment nor the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution precluded Hawaii from restricting the voting for Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees to Hawaiians and excluding all others. 146 F.3d 1075.

Where plaintiff argued that restriction on plaintiff's right to vote in election for trustees of Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) was based purely on racial classifications and therefore violated Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the method of electing OHA trustees as provided by state law met constitutional standards. 963 F. Supp. 1547.