Some of those who would be eligible to vote, or become delegates themselves, have said they will boycott it. [79][80] Although Sai and Lance Paul Larsen agreed to the arbitration, with Larsen suing Sai for not protecting his rights as a Hawaiian Kingdom subject, his actual goal was to have U.S. rule in Hawaii declared a breach of mutual treaty obligations and international law. Hawaii became a US State on August 21, 1959, after many years of business and political dealings with the US. [16][95], U.S. census information shows approximately 401,162 Native Hawaiians living in the U.S. in 2000. There has also been opposition to the concept of ancestry-based sovereignty, which critics maintain is tantamount to racial exclusion. In 1893, U.S. Marines invaded the island and overthrew the Queen. Hawaiians are the only major native group without these kinds of institutions. [110], The election was expected to cost about $150,000, and voting was carried out by Elections America, a firm based in Washington D.C. Hawai'i's King Kamehameha I with snow-capped Mauna Kea in the distance, Laulani Teale, left, and Liko Martin, right, sing while Palani Vaughan, centre rear, holds up a copy of Queen Liliuokalani's protest of the overthrow of Hawaii during a Honolulu interior hearing, Barack Obama, born in Honolulu, returns to Hawaii every December with his family, Queen Liliuokalani (seen here at Victoria's Golden Jubilee) led efforts to oppose Hawai'i's annexation to the US, Former Hawaiian Senator Daniel Akaka tried for years to get federal recognition for native Hawaiians through Congress, Walter Ritte (left) has withdrawn his candidacy to the 'aha, Peter Apo (right) supports federal recognition. Questions remain, however, about whether the constitutionwill actually go into effect. [53] The group began in the late 1980s as the P Kaukau coalition with the aim to supply information that could support the sovereignty and independence movement. Sai is also among those who believe that race or ancestry has no place in a Hawaiian bid to be free of the US. Then, the U.S. federal government could recognize it, a process that would give it similar powers to tribal governments. The 'aha is going forward after a federal judge ruled the organisation running the election, Na'i Aupuni, was sufficiently independent of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to make it a private election, despite receiving funds from the agency through an intermediary.