Cite as: 528 U. S. 495 (2000)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
"The special election for trustees is not equivalent to a general election, and the vote is not for officials who will perform general governmental functions in either a representative or executive capacity. . . . Nor does the limitation in these circumstances suggest that voting eligibility was designed to exclude persons who would otherwise be interested in OHA's affairs. . . . Rather, it reflects the fact that the trustees' fiduciary responsibilities run only to native Hawaiians and Hawaiians and 'a board of trustees chosen from among those who are interested parties would be the best way to insure proper management and adherence to the needed fiduciary principles.' 18 The challenged part of Hawaii law was not contrived to keep non-Hawaiians from voting in general, or in any respect pertinent to their legal interests. Therefore, we cannot say that [petitioner's] right to vote has been denied or abridged in violation of the Fifteenth Amendment.
"18 1 Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of Hawaii of 1978, Standing Comm. Rep. No. 59 at 644. The Committee reporting on Section 5, establishing OHA, further noted that trustees should be so elected because 'people to whom assets belong should have control over them. . . . The election of the board will enhance representative governance and decision-making accountability and, as a result, strengthen the fiduciary relationship between the board member, as trustee, and the native Hawaiian, as beneficiary.' Id."
146 F. 3d 1075, 1081-1082 (CA9 1998).
In my judgment, her reasoning is far more persuasive than the wooden approach adopted by the Court today.
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
Justice Ginsburg, dissenting.
I dissent essentially for the reasons stated by Justice Stevens in Part II of his dissenting opinion. Ante, at 529- 538 (relying on established federal authority over Native
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