Because far more applicants claim Hawaiian ancestry than the schools can admit, virtually all students have some Hawaiian blood.
Voting is restricted to those with Hawaiian blood.
"I have three-sixteenths Hawaiian blood," he said.
These benefits now go only to people who can prove that they have 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood.
They are voting on whether to change the definition to anyone with some Hawaiian blood.
Under current law, only those with 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood are entitled to land, medical and legal benefits.
State officials say 150,000 other people have some Hawaiian blood but are without legal native status because they fall below the 50 percent threshold established by Congress in 1920.
His bill would have allowed anyone with one thirty-second of Hawaiian blood to receive land and benefits.
I am the last of my family with pure Hawaiian blood.
Her proportion of Native Hawaiian blood has been disputed, but she is mentioned to having some relations to the ancient royalty of Maui island.