As a citizen of Georgia and the United States of America I’m anxious about the future of our country. Our election system is under attack by those who want to maintain and gain power regardless of what voters want.
I became active with elections when I was a poll observer for the November, 2020 presidential election. I spent fourteen hours at the poll and I’m glad to say that the day was uneventful and the process ran smoothly.
However, I am very concerned about gerrymandering and the power grab made by Republican state legislators in North Carolina. Politicians in NC want to allow state legislators to determine the election rules without any input or oversight by state and federal judges, or the voters themselves through referendums. This would allow the legislature to have sole power over elections.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the independent state legislature theory as far back as 1916. Summarizing this ruling, the non-partisan League of Women Voters said “… the ultimate power to legislate comes from the people, and the people should be in control of their representatives, not the other way around.”
Kimberly Hearn
Fayetteville, Ga.
Ms Hearn
I see you have a case of political anxiety. I am here to help you.
Legislators legislate by making laws. People vote for legislators to represent them to make the laws. That is why sometimes legislators are called representatives.
If our representatives make bad laws, people can vote for someone else to be the representative. Or, people can challenge the bad laws by going to a person who reads the law and judges whether it is good or un-good. That is why these people are known as judges.
We live in a representative democracy, which is why we have representatives. We do not get to vote on every law through referendum. Judges determine if new laws break old laws, or even the super-duper big set of laws called our Constitution. Some judges think they should make laws, but they are bad judges.
I know what you’re thinking: “you didn’t write that”. You’re right. Thanks, Kamala.
Back to me. Here’s my suggestion to rid you of your worries: 1) It’s North Carolina, and you live in Georgia. You’ll be OK. 2) As Kamala explained above, the good people of North Carolina are in control of their representatives. 3) If the legislators of North Carolina go rogue, there are plenty of judges to corral them. 4) Republicans are people too!
And if none of these work, turn off Mainstream Media. A recent New York Times poll found that 84% of Americans believe the MSM is either a Major or Minor Threat To Our Democracy, the most of any boogey-man they could come up with! Even bigger than Republicans!
Problem solved. Follow me for more healthy-living advice.