2026 Honolulu Charter amendments: A voter guide to all 20 ballot questions

This fall's ballot could change how Honolulu is run, from how the Mayor is elected to how police respond to federal immigration requests. Yet most voters reach the Charter questions with little background on what each one would do.

In all, 20 proposed amendments to the Charter of the City and County of Honolulu 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. Other measures cover a new LGBTQIA+ commission, affordable housing funds and historic preservation.

Indivisible Hawaiʻi Statewide Network (IHSN) created this guide to help members and other Oʻahu voters understand each proposal before filling in their ballots. Below you'll find the four amendments IHSN supports and our reasons, followed by a plain-language summary of all 20.

Ballots arrive by mail by October 16, 2026, and must be received by the County Elections Division by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 3. Not registered yet? Here's how to register to vote in Hawaiʻi.

How votes on Honolulu Charter amendments are counted

Charter amendments follow a different rule than amendments to the Hawaiʻi State Constitution. On a state constitutional amendment, a blank vote effectively works as a "no." On a Honolulu Charter amendment, blank votes are set aside, and only yes and no votes decide whether a proposal passes.

In practice, skipping a Charter question doesn't work against it. If you have a view on a question, mark yes or no so your choice is part of the tally.

Reading this page puts you ahead of many voters. Taking time to understand each measure means your choices will reflect a real decision, and IHSN is glad you're here. Help others do the same by passing this guide along to friends, family and neighbors on Oʻahu.

Honolulu Charter amendments IHSN supports

IHSN supports four of the 20 proposals because they align with our policy positions, including full LGBTQIA+ protections, protecting voting rights, and a humane immigration system. IHSN takes no position on the other 16 questions.

Question 4: A permanent LGBTQIA+ Commission for Honolulu

What it does: Creates a nine-member commission to advise the Mayor, City Council and City agencies on issues affecting LGBTQIA+ residents, and to recommend policies, programs and legislation.

Why IHSN supports it: Question 4 gives LGBTQIA+ residents a permanent voice in City decisions. The commission would bring relevant expertise to officials, coordinate responses across agencies, and identify recurring problems that individual departments may miss. Because it would be written into the Charter, a future administration couldn't simply discontinue it.

Question 5: Ranked-choice voting for Mayor, City Council and Prosecuting Attorney

What it does: Beginning in 2032, replaces Honolulu's current two-step August/November system for these offices with ranked-choice voting in a single November election. Voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority of first choices, the last-place candidate is eliminated and those ballots move to each voter's next choice, round by round, until someone has a majority.

Why IHSN supports it: Question 5 would move City elections from the lower-turnout August primary to November, when more voters participate. In the 2024 election, every City official was elected in August. Ranked-choice voting lets voters choose among the full field of candidates, and the winner must receive a majority of the ballots remaining in the count. Starting in 2032 allows time to prepare and to educate voters on the new system.

Question 6: HPD and federal immigration enforcement

What it does: Requires the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) to adopt policies protecting constitutional rights for all people, regardless of immigration or citizenship status. Officers could assist federal immigration enforcement only when a verifiable state or federal statute or a court order requires it, and only after confirming the requesting agency's identity and authority. The proposal overlaps with Act 141 (2026), a new state law. It bars state and county law enforcement from sharing information with federal immigration authorities for enforcement purposes, while still allowing compliance with a judicial warrant, court order or subpoena.

Why IHSN supports it: Question 6 would:

• Keep HPD focused on local public safety rather than radically changing its mission
• Protect constitutional rights regardless of immigration status
• Preserve community trust in HPD
• Require HPD to verify who is actually requesting assistance, since criminals elsewhere have committed crimes while posing as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents
• Distinguish judicial authority from ICE's own administrative paperwork, because a warrant or document issued by an immigration agency is not the same as an order issued by a court
• Place these protections in the Charter instead of leaving them to changing HPD administrations
• Avoid depending solely on state laws that future legislatures could amend

Learn how IHSN chapters are pushing back against ICE overreach.

Question 16: Permanent residents on Honolulu City boards and commissions

What it does: Allows lawful permanent residents who live in Honolulu to serve on most City boards and commissions. Today, members generally must be registered Honolulu voters. This applies to appointed volunteer positions only, not to voting in elections.

Why IHSN supports it: Question 16 broadens the pool of applicants for unpaid volunteer seats to include people who may bring valuable professional or community expertise. Many permanent residents already work legally in City jobs, own property, pay taxes and contribute to the community. The amendment doesn't give noncitizens voting rights, but it could make boards and commissions more responsive to Oʻahu's diverse population and institutions. Applicants would go through the existing evaluation process.

All 20 proposed amendments to the Honolulu City Charter

The summaries below follow the question numbers on your ballot. Questions IHSN supports are marked.

Food security and Native Hawaiian stewardship (Questions 1-3)

• Question 1: Food Security Fund. Creates a dedicated fund for locally produced food and food security. The share of property-tax revenue set aside for the Charter's special funds would rise from 2.5% to 3%, divided equally among six funds.
• Question 2: Charter preamble. Rewrites the Charter's opening statement to recognize the relationship with the ʻāina (land), Native Hawaiian values, kūpuna (elders) and Prince Kūhiō, while emphasizing accountable government and stewardship. It does not change any governmental powers.
• Question 3: ʻŌiwi Resources and Cultural Stewardship. Creates an Office of ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) Resources and Cultural Stewardship within the Mayor's administration to care for cultural and natural resources, plus a Cultural Advisory Council of kūpuna, cultural practitioners and community representatives.

Equity, elections and immigration (Questions 4-6)

• Question 4: LGBTQIA+ Commission (IHSN supports). Creates a nine-member commission to advise the Mayor, Council and agencies on issues affecting LGBTQIA+ residents.
• Question 5: Ranked-choice voting (IHSN supports). Beginning in 2032, elects the Mayor, Council and Prosecuting Attorney through ranked-choice voting in a single November election.
• Question 6: HPD and immigration enforcement (IHSN supports). Requires HPD policies protecting constitutional rights regardless of immigration status, and limits assistance with federal immigration enforcement to cases required by a verifiable statute or court order.

Housing and affordable housing (Questions 7-10)

• Question 7: Housing availability. Adds a Charter policy declaring Honolulu's shortage of long-term housing and housing-related outmigration to be serious problems, and makes increasing and preserving housing for residents a City policy. It is a policy statement rather than a specific housing program.
• Question 8: Affordable Housing Fund. Makes the fund explicitly revolving, so loan repayments, interest and other proceeds return to the fund instead of the City's general finances. It also allows funding for mixed-use and mixed-income projects that include qualifying affordable units.
• Question 9: City real-estate hearings. Removes the separate public-hearing requirement for transactions involving City real-property interests. These transactions would still go before the City Council, where the public can testify. This is one of the amendments that directly changes an existing public-participation requirement.
• Question 10: Housing plan. Requires the City to prepare a 10-year Housing Functional Plan for affordable housing development, updated at least every five years, taking effect January 1, 2030.

Environment, historic preservation and special funds (Questions 11-14)

• Question 11: Environmental and climate grants. Allows the Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund and the Climate Resiliency Fund to award grants directly to qualifying tax-exempt nonprofits whose work advances each fund's purpose.
• Question 12: Outside money for special funds. Allows the City's special funds to accept federal, state, philanthropic and other outside funding in addition to their dedicated City revenue.
• Question 13: Historic preservation. Expands the Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund so it can preserve, restore and maintain historic buildings, archaeological resources and culturally significant objects, not only acquire land. It would be renamed the Land, Natural Resources, and Historic Preservation Fund.
• Question 14: Upkeep of protected lands. Raises the share of that fund available each year to operate, maintain and manage acquired properties from 5% to 10% of the previous year's deposits.

City government, boards and accountability (Questions 15-20)

• Question 15: Data, AI and privacy. Creates a permanent Office of Data and Innovation responsible for City data standards, digital privacy, responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI), transparency, and better services through data. The City already has a Chief Data Officer created by ordinance; placing the function in the Charter makes it harder for a future administration to eliminate.
• Question 16: Permanent residents on boards and commissions (IHSN supports). Allows lawful permanent residents who live in Honolulu to serve on most City boards and commissions. It does not affect who can vote.
• Question 17: Board quorums. Changes quorum and voting calculations so vacancies and nonvoting members don't count against a board. Once a quorum exists, a majority of members present and voting can generally act. Neighborhood Boards are not affected.
• Question 18: Human Resources deputy. Makes the First Deputy Director of Human Resources an appointed position outside the civil service, in line with first deputies in other City departments. The change would take effect January 1, 2027.
• Question 19: Charter Commission support. Requires the City Clerk to provide administrative and technical support to future Charter Commissions, without changing the Commission's authority.
• Question 20: Impeached officials. A Mayor, Councilmember or Prosecuting Attorney who is impeached, or who resigns after an impeachment petition is filed, would be ineligible for any City office for two years. This mirrors the existing consequence for officials removed through a recall election.

Official sources for the Honolulu Charter amendment text

The Honolulu City Council's Oʻahu Votes page lists each ballot question with its current situation, what would change, and a link to the full proposal. You can also download the 2026 Charter Amendment Booklet. The ballot questions are available in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, Chinese, Ilokano and Tagalog.

For registration, ballot tracking and voter service center locations, visit the Hawaiʻi Office of Elections or the Honolulu Elections Division.

After you vote: Help shape state policy in 2027

Charter amendments determine how local government works for years to come, yet they tend to get far less attention than the races at the top of the ticket. Take a few minutes with this guide before your ballot arrives and decide where you stand on each question.

Your vote this November helps decide Honolulu's future. Once ballots are counted, IHSN turns to state policy. We're gearing up for the Legislature's 2027 session, which opens in January, building on our proudest moment so far: helping pass Act 11 in 2026. It's the nation's first state law to directly counter Citizens United, the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that opened the door to unlimited corporate spending in elections.

Legislators said the bill would have died without our members' persistent outreach, and most of our policy team had never testified before this year. Read how Hawaiʻi overrode Citizens United.

Now is the time to join the team that shapes policy: our Public Policy Action Group tracks bills, speaks up at hearings and contacts lawmakers on the issues local families care about. Prefer to start closer to home? Find a chapter near you.