That rule against fixing things that aren't broken applies neatly to one of two proposed amendments to the Hawai'i State Constitution that will appear on the ballot one week from today: the bid to lower the minimum age of the governor and lieutenant governor from 30 to 25.

The amendment was first introduced by state Sen. David Ige in the 2007 session, at the request of a group of students who believed setting the age requirement lower would encourage youthful leadership and, in turn, improve political engagement among the young. That's a worthy goal, but any legal adult already can run for lower state offices, for which the age minimum is set at 18.

It makes sense for the bar to be set higher for the chief executive post, and no compelling argument has been made for resetting it five years lower. Of the 50 states, 33 have the minimum at age 30 for governors.

This amendment offers no meaningful improvement, and voters should reject such needless tinkering with our state's highest law.