Oct. 15, 2026
With ballots for the Nov. 3 general election arriving in homes this week, ʻōpio from across the pae ʻāina are exercising their ea in a series of public events meant to encourage people to vote.
These Walk to the Box engagements are organized by Our Kaiāulu Votes, a nonpartisan, youth-centered hui consisting of dozens of public and private kula and numerous Hawaiian-serving organizations. Through marching and sign waving, ʻōpio serve as role models in civic engagement. Dozens of 18-year-olds will also be casting their ballots for the very first time.
Kahului, Maui is where the first Walk to the Box event will happen on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Ke Kula ʻo Kamehameha Maui will be well represented as some 70 haumāna will board a bus from ʻAʻapueo to the Velma McWayne Santos Community Center. The robust turnout reflects Kamehameha’s commitment to civic engagement as a way to exercise ea. Kumu Vanessa Ching, a student activities coordinator, and senior Kayla Baptist are alakaʻi in bringing this impressive contingent together. Both see civic engagement as fundamental to a thriving lāhui.
“I think about what our kupuna have done, the sacrifices they made to foster aloha ʻāina, to protect our land, to preserve the culture and our language, and I think that voting is part of that. It's important because students, haumāna and kaiāulu can participate in decisions that affect our communities,” said Ching.
Although Baptist doesn’t reach voting age until a week after the Nov. 3 election, the Associated Students of the Kamehameha Schools president has remained active this election season. She’s part of the ʻŌpio Steering Committee, which helps organize the rallies and other public-facing efforts. And she also worked with the 19 seniors who are old enough to vote, ensuring they were ready to cast their ballot.
Baptist says she’s proud that so many ʻōpio are taking an active role in shaping their future.
“It's definitely an exercise in ea because we're getting our community involved and nowadays people or ʻōpio my age are not as brave or not as motivated to do things like this.”
Kamahaʻo Halemanu KSH’25, a sophomore at Amherst College in Massachusetts, was a prior member of the ʻŌpio Steering Committee, and now serves as a mentor to this year’s haumāna cohort. He’s so passionate about civic engagement that he, along with his brother Kahiau (a junior at KS Hawaiʻi), and friend Cajohn "Hano" Mar KSH’25, created a website detailing the history of civic engagement that happened in the Hawaiian Kingdom.
“Look at our history as a people during the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, because we had various elections and our people who had possessed the highest literacy, national literacy rate in the world. They were civically engaged, and they were what we should all aspire to be,” said Halemanu.
For further inspiration to get involved, here’s one final tidbit: Kamahaʻo is planning a nearly 10,000-mile roundtrip huakaʻi from Massachusetts to Maui and Kauaʻi for the express purpose of taking part in Walk to the Box events!
Walk to the Box 2026
Maui
Tuesday, Oct. 20
9 a.m.: Walk to the Box at Velma McWayne Santos Community Center
10 a.m.: Sign waving on Kaʻahumanu Ave (in front of Kaʻahumanu Center / Sears side)
Kauaʻi
Wednesday, Oct. 21
10 a.m.: Sign waving on Rice Street near Kauaʻi Museum
10:45 a.m.: Walk to the Box at the Office of the County Clerk 4386 Rice Street, Līhuʻe
Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island
Thursday, Oct. 22
9:30 a.m.: Sign waving on Kamehameha Ave. (near the Kamehameha Statue)
10:15 a.m.: Walk to the Box at the County of Hawaiʻi Aupuni Center (Aupuni St. and Pauahi St.)
Oʻahu
Monday, Nov. 2
9:30 a.m.: Sign waving in front of the Honolulu Post Office / Hale Aliʻiōlani (across from ʻIolani Palace)
10:15 a.m.: Walk to the Box at Honolulu Hale
You can find more resources about civic engagement on the Our Kaiāulu Votes website.