"The whole affair — including the verdict — erodes citizens’ faith in government."  

I don't think you can erode something that doesn't exist.  Hawaii citizens don't have faith in their government.  If we want higher turnout in elections, voters have to believe that their vote matters, and largely in Hawaii, nobody believes that.  We can complain to our government officials that they aren't following the "rules" or the law, and you know what happens when you do that, right?  They don't even bother to respond.  If you're not part of the ruling oligarchy, well you can forget about being treated fairly by any government agency, the racial flavor of which shifts according to who has power at any given point in time.  The one thing that is always consistent across racial lines - most government employees in Hawaii, if faced with a mistake they've made, will deny, deny, deny, or simply ignore you (a defacto denial), at which point you give up or *maybe,* if you can, take them to court.