Web site encourages North Carolinians to vote

A new Web site was launched last week aimed at helping North Carolinians stay in the know when it comes to voting.

With less than three weeks before early voting begins, a nonpartisan group called Democracy North Carolina unveiled the site featuring a page called “Everything you need to register and vote in N.C.”

In a press release, spokesperson Katy Munger, said the site is created to cover all the voting bases.

“This resource is designed to answer a host of questions about the who, what, when, where and how of voting,” Munger said. “It will help veteran voters and especially the 2.5 million citizens in North Carolina who are either not registered or not voting.”

According to the release, the site will contain “a county-by-county analysis of census and election data,” which shows that about 900,000 citizens are not registered and another 1.65 million are registered but have not voted in the state in past eight years.

“That’s a huge number of missing voters — almost 40 percent of the eligible adults,” said Bob Hall, the group’s executive director. “The excitement around this primary could bring many of them out and produce a record turnout.”

Among the topics addressed on the new site are: How to register and vote by mail; how party affiliation plays into voting in the primary; same-day registration and voting; how college student status affects voting; and others.

“Some of the information is well-known,” Munger said. “But we’ve found in our statewide organizing that people have a lot of misconceptions.”

The new site is accessible at http://www.democracy-nc.org or directly at http://www.2008ElectionConnection.com.

Johnson takes McHenry to task on comments about Iraq
Hickory attorney Daniel Johnson said 10th District Rep. Patrick McHenry’s comments on the war in Iraq were premature.

Johnson, who is in a Democratic primary for the the 10th District seat, said McHenry jumped the gun when he said. “The surge appears to be working.”

“The facts on the ground tell a very different story,” Johnson said in a release.

Johnson, who lost both his legs while serving as a U.S. Naval officer, called the death of the 4,000th U.S. military member “a tragic milestone” and said the war has lingered on too long.

“Our troops continue to perform above and beyond the call of duty in their military campaign in Iraq,” Johnson said in the release. “(But) it’s time for Congress to pressure the administration to force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own safety and security.”

Johnson called McHenry’s visit to Iraq last month nonproductive to finding a resolution to the war.

“It’s time for Congressman McHenry to start talking straight about the war in Iraq and to start working to ensure a peaceful and honorable end to the conflict for the American military,” Johnson said. “It’s time for Congressman McHenry to stop creating photos ops and start doing his job.”

Johnson faces retired Hickory engineer Steve Ivester in the Democratic primary. McHenry is up against Hickory attorney Lance Sigmon in the GOP primary.

Posted on 03/31/08 at 08:12 PM
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