It’s been a busy couple of weeks on the election front — specifically, the voting front — down in Raleigh and at other points on the compass.
The NC House, in a 60-58 vote, OK’d a bill to shorten the early voting period in the state. Bad, no good, horrible call, in my view. It’s pitched as a cost-saving move, but it just looks like a formula for creating bottlenecks, aggravation and frustrated voters. A similar measure in the NC Senate goes further, ending Sunday voting and registration of new voters at the polls.
Hats off to freshman Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Hendersonville, for bucking the party line on this one. In comments to the Charlotte Observer, McGrady noted Henderson election workers are fine with existing law and as to cost savings, said “I just don’t think they are real. They’re certainly not real in Henderson County.”
In a nation that already has pitifully low voter turnout, moves like shortening early voting are going to make the numbers look any better.
Full Article: Raleigh does voters no favors trying to curb early voting | The Asheville Citizen-Times | citizen-times.com.