Ann G. Mullin: Zane eventually figured it out
The first 12 paragraphs of J. Peder Zane’s Dec. 7 column “Let’s clean up voter rolls” constituted fake news. There is no evidence of voter fraud above and beyond a handful of people dying after they early voted but before the election. That’s not fraud, just bad timing.
Zane created a strawman when he posits that liberals normally castigate election workers, but love them when their side wins.
As a liberal, I appreciate all public employees who work diligently to provide for the public good.
In three paragraphs buried near the end of the column, Zane told the truth. He admitted that the GOP has consciously tried to “marginalize Democrat votes ... (and) that these (Republican) ... leaders have put their party before the people while falsely claiming to stand on principle. The GOP’s ... gerrymandering efforts have made a mockery of our democracy. They have not fairly earned the super majorities they enjoy in the state House and Senate.”
Zane gets it: If the entire General Assembly had to stand for state-wide election, the Republican members would have lost. Legitimate North Carolina voters removed the incumbent (Republican) governor for the first time in North Carolina history.
Ann G. Mullin
Chapel Hill
This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 7:52 PM with the headline "Ann G. Mullin: Zane eventually figured it out."