Shortening the absentee ballot deadline in NC is just a way to stifle the vote count
Election integrity
The writer is a former chair of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina.
Shortening the deadline for absentee ballots has nothing to do with election integrity. It’s about stifling the vote count.
A Republican senator’s claim that “every day that passes after the election with uncertainty just causes distrust in the process,” would be laughable if it weren’t so ludicrous. Counting ballots isn’t like ordering fast food. You can’t expect instant results. If it takes a week or a month to count fairly and accurately, so be it.
Election laws should make it easier to vote, not harder. If Republicans and Democrats really want to prevent vote fraud and protect election integrity, they’d remove the restrictions on who can run for office, and expand opportunities for voting. They’d also support an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission.
Brian Irving, Cary
Combating crime
Violent crime is increasing in many places across the country and progressive solutions from Democrats don’t seem to be the solution.
Addressing “systemic” causes of crime through social programs is great. Still, if people cannot walk down the street without the fear of being a victim of deadly attacks, it will negatively impact economic opportunities.
Quality schooling, job openings and tax revenues for social programs rely on the government providing safe communities. Politicians should start taking the crime wave seriously.
Gabriel Russ, Lincolnton
GOP culture war
Do Republicans in Congress really believe the Constitution was “colorblind,” as U.S. Rep. Jim Banks said last week? Then, in the next breath, he and other Republicans work to prevent teaching of Critical Race Theory.
Colorblind? The Constitution was signed by all white men at a time when women could not vote and slavery was still practiced.
Why is North Carolina voting for people like Madison Cawthorn who support these types of ideas? They will not vote on infrastructure. They will not pass a voting rights bill. They cannot even discuss healthcare, yet Banks and others want a culture war.
Our elected officials should be in DC to solve our problems and address issues — not create them. Just like the voting fraud fallacy, anyone in DC who supports the “Big Lie” and wants a culture war needs to be expelled immediately.
Jim Fortner, Charlotte
Gerrymandering
There’s a lot of talk these days about gerrymandering in North Carolina. No matter how the lines are drawn someone is upset.
Democrats want independent redistricting commissions to solve gerrymandering, but we can go further.
The Fair Representation Act, recently reintroduced in Congress, would create larger Congressional districts that would elect multiple representatives.
This would make it harder to gerrymander and would mean that no matter where you live in the state you would have a representative you agree with. That means Republicans in Charlotte and Democrats in Asheville, and potentially third party voters, could feel represented.
North Carolina’s U.S. senators and representatives should support the Fair Representation Act.
David Lichtman, Charlotte
Water: The new oil
In light of the recent canceling of a major oil pipeline construction, the drought out west, and increasing flooding along the Mississippi River, I have a suggestion.
Why not use some of the money that would have funded the oil pipelines to develop water pipelines that would run from rain-saturated states to drought-stricken western ones?
A line to the Napa Valley and other places where water intensive crops like almonds are gown would allow drinkable water for people and piped-in runoff/flood water for certain crops. It’s a win-win for folks at both ends.
As climate changes worsens, water is becoming the new oil — a commodity that will be more and more in demand as the planet warms.
Margaret Howell, Charlotte
Affordable housing
Perhaps Charlotte should give some thought to a complex of apartment homes like Knickerbocker Village, where low- and-middle income New Yorkers live in a dozen 13-story buildings near the Manhattan Bridge. Land could be chosen that’s near transportation, shopping and schools making it a win-win for all. If there is so much conflict with developers as to where affordable housing can exist, this could be the long overdue answer. And, it would not raise the worries of those who fear having hard-working people as neighbors in their tightly regulated HOA communities.
Lorraine Stark, Matthews
Charlotte streets
Most of the worst conditions on Charlotte’s streets are where contractors dug holes and did a poor job of repairing them. Wouldn’t it be cheaper for the city to oversee these repairs and hold contractors accountable? When the holes are not properly filled, they sink. Contractors should be called back to make corrections. I’m of the opinion that these contractors aren’t interested in smooth repairs or in how the city spends our tax dollars.
Richard M. Patterson, Charlotte
