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Several high chiefs declared themselves candidates for the throne, including Lunalilo. His main opponent was David Kalakaua. Lunalilo was the more popular of the two candidates. He was directly descended from a half brother of King Kamehameha IThis article is about the Hawaiian ruler. For other uses, see Kamehameha (disambiguation . Kamehameha also known as Kamehameha I and Kamehameha the Great ( circa 1758- 1819), unified the Hawaiian Islands in battle and formally established the Kingdom of H and was thus a cousin of King Kamehameha V. Because of this, many people believed the throne rightly belonged to Lunalilo since the only person more closely related to Kamehameha V, Princess Bernice Pauahi BishopBernice Pauahi Bishop ( December 19, 1831 October 16, 1884) was a Hawaiian chief and philanthropist. She was the great-granddaughter and last direct descendant of King Kamehameha I. Her estate is the largest private landowner in the state of Hawaii. The r, had already expressed having no interest in taking up the throne. Some people in the kingdom believed that Lunalilo could have simply walked into the capital and declared himself king. Lunalilo, however, insisted that the constitution be followed and urged that every person in the kingdom take part in the electionSee also Election (movie) for the film directed by Alexander Payne For the Theological concept of election, see Predestination An election is a process in which a vote is held to elect candidates to an office. It is the mechanism by which a democracy fill. He issued the following message six days after the death of the King:
"Whereas, It is desirable that the wishes of the Hawaiian people be consulted as to a successor to the Throne, Therefore,
"Notwithsanding that according to the law of inheritance, I am the rightful heir to the Throne, in order to preserve peace, harmony and good order, I desire to submit the decision of my claim to the voice of the people."
Lunalilo, unlike his more conservative opponent, wanted to reform the Hawaiian government and amend the constitution to make the government more democratic and give people a greater part in government.
It was decided that there would be a popular election to give the people a chance to have their voices be heard. However, because the constitution gave the legislature the power to decide who would be the next king, the popular election would be unofficial.
On January 1January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Here a calendar year refers to the order in which the months are displayed, January to December. The first day of the medieval Julian year was usually a day other, 1873, the popular election was held and Lunalilo won by an overwhelming majority. The week after, the legislature unanimously voted Lunalilo for king. It has been speculated that the reason for the unanimous vote was because each member legislator required to sign his name on the back of his ballot, and the legislators were afraid to go against the wishes of the people. Queen Emma later wrote in a letter that hundreds of Hawaiians were ready to tear to pieces anyone who opposed Lunalilo (see Potter and Kasdon, 1964).
At Lunalilo's coronation ceremony on January 9January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 356 days remaining (357 in leap years). Events upto 19th century 1760 Afghans defeat Marathas in Battle of Barari Ghat. 1768 Philip Astley stages the first modern circus ( London)., 1873, the popularity of the new king was very evident. The church where the coronation ceremony was held ( Kawaiahao Church) was filled to capacity and a large crowd watched from outside.