Gary Hathaway: ‘Mockery of the democratic process’

What is it going to take to stop the Republican-run North Carolina legislature from making a mockery of the democratic process?

One of the basic tenets of our system of democracy is that its citizens are allowed to exercise their voting right to determine if an incumbent candidate is worthy of re-election. And more importantly, once the outcome of an election has been determined, there is an unencumbered transition of governance from the candidate or party that is leaving office to the newly elected.

What is taking place in our state capital is an embarrassment to the state and and a travesty to democracy. That residents are being jailed for expressing their justifiable outrage over the disgraceful actions taking place in the chamber halls casts a long dark shadow over the Republican majority (“About 20 arrested after protesters pack legislature over GOP moves,” Dec. 16 news article).

The one saving grace in all of this, is that the voters will soon have their say whether or not to re-elect those responsible.

This story was originally published December 17, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Gary Hathaway: ‘Mockery of the democratic process’."