Editorial: Critical issues to consider when making ballot choices
Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016 -- Know where candidates stand on critical issues, not just who the politicians are.
Posted — Updated
It is the time of the campaign season for endorsements.
As we noted in an editorial earlier this week, endorsements should be statements of support – for a particular candidate or taking a specific position on a ballot initiative.
As we hope you’ve noticed, we are driven by a commitment to make our public schools among the best in the nation, where all children have an opportunity to learn. We also support access to affordable and adequate health care; an economy that provides opportunities for everyone to succeed and prosper; and communities that are vibrant, safe and clean.
These are commitments that transcend ideology or political affiliation – they are neither Republican nor Democrat.
Over the next few days we will weigh in on the election, but we won’t recommend WHO to vote for. We will recommend WHAT to vote for. More precisely, we will offer a list of issues to match up against candidates.
Our recommendation is simple. Get to know where the candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and the General Assembly stand. Vote for the ones that line up in agreement with these issues. Political parties and ideologies are irrelevant.
Here, briefly, is where candidates should stand. We’ll explain more about each in the coming days:
- Repeal House Bill 2 in its entirety.
- Support expansion of Medicaid to cover more North Carolinians in need of health care.
- Create a non-partisan system to draw North Carolina’s congressional and legislative districts.
- Revive North Carolina’s successful non-partisan election of judges and public funding of judicial campaigns.
- Remove the handcuffs on North Carolina environmental regulators by repealing the state’s limit on environmental rules and regulations to no stricter than federal law; keep the N.C. renewable energy portfolio standard at least at its current level and restore tax credits for development for renewable solar and wind energy.
- Require private schools receiving “opportunity scholarship” vouchers to have the same student performance and transparency standard as North Carolina public schools; increase the state tax on tobacco products to fund pre-kindergarten education so all children are ready to learn when they enter school and re-establish and fully fund the N.C. Teaching Fellows Program.
Remember, in North Carolina if you are not registered to vote, you must register no later than Friday, Oct. 14. Early voting starts on Thursday, Oct. 20.
Most importantly, register and vote.
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