Democracy
Is this really the North Carolina we want?
There are few days that go by that I don’t have a moment of appreciation for the beauty around us in North Carolina. The trees, the hiking trails, the flowers… It’s quite amazing. I seem to notice it even more lately, as Spring has taken its time. As I had another of these moments recently, […]
Despair and hope for the state of our democracy in a single day
One supposes that state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger really believed what he was doing and saying in 2009 when he and several other Republicans, including current House Speaker Tim Moore, sponsored legislation to end partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina. Berger and his fellow Senate Republicans were serious enough about the measure they introduced […]
North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections executive director Melissa Price Kromm
North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections executive director Melissa Price Kromm discusses the need to preserve and protect the institutions of our democracy and some recently introduced legislation at the General Assembly that would advance that cause.
Bipartisan former members of Congress call for boost in funding to secure elections
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of former U.S. lawmakers on the National Council on Election Integrity called on Congress on Friday to spend $400 million on election integrity to insulate the system from foreign interference. “The Department of Homeland Security designated our election system as critical infrastructure in 2017,” the four wrote in a letter. […]
NC Freedom to Vote Act would protect and improve our democracy
The freedom to vote has faced serious challenges in recent years. New voting restrictions, rampant disinformation, threats to voters and election officials, and even violent attempts to overturn election results have led to growing concern about the future of our democracy and election process.
Election deniers who lost secretary of state races now run several state GOP operations
Many of the election deniers who ran last year for positions that would have given them control over state elections systems lost their races. But several have found a new path to exert influence: as chair of their state Republican Party. On Saturday, Kristina Karamo, an activist who rose to prominence for her efforts to […]
America is the world’s most powerful democracy. Why is it impotent to stop mass gun violence?
Whether in a grocery store, a place of worship, a shopping mall, a community celebration, at work or in school, you are at risk for becoming a victim of senseless gun violence. Why is America the only industrialized nation in the world that is plagued by frequent mass shootings? Has our form of democracy allowed the minority to run amuck when it comes to the rights of an individual to own any kind of gun vs. the majority’s right to live without fear of mass murder?
Five election deniers who are controlling state voting systems
Americans concerned about the health of democracy breathed a sigh of relief when a pack of election deniers in 2022 lost their attempts to control voting in key battleground states — making it unlikely that a rogue state election official could subvert the 2024 presidential election. Candidates for secretary of state who denied the result […]
Yet another poll confirms that NC lawmakers defy public opinion with attacks on abortion rights
At some point in the foreseeable future, the American anti-abortion movement is going to founder on the rocks of public opinion. Unless the nation’s democratic institutions simply cease to function — and admittedly, that’s probably not beyond the realm of possibility in a country in which a sizable minority has fallen for the lies of […]
Biden in State of the Union address draws boos and shouts from a combative GOP
President Joe Biden began his State of the Union address Tuesday — his first to a divided Congress — with an appeal to bipartisan priorities, but later criticized parts of the GOP agenda and got a sense of Republicans’ appetite for conflict during one combative stretch.
North Carolina House Republicans advance a new kind of bathroom bill
It’s been almost seven years since North Carolina Republican lawmakers and then-Gov. Pat McCrory hastily concocted and enacted House Bill 2 – the infamous “bathroom bill” that targeted transgender people for ignorant, mean-spirited, and altogether absurd discrimination, while simultaneously making the state the target of numerous boycotts and countless late-night TV one-liners. The bill was later repealed, of course, but its legacy – as an embarrassment to be forgotten as quickly as possible...
