Election results may be delayed. Trust the process.

Election results

This unprecedented election season has seen early voting records shattered and nerves rattled. As Election Day arrives, we need to be mindful of the next phase in this important election season — the vote count.

We may not know the results of important national and state contests immediately because the process of tallying absentee ballots may take days. And that means democracy is working!

I urge patience and trust in the process. It is a small price to pay to guarantee that every vote in every race is tabulated.

Jo Nicholas

League of Women Voters of NC president

COVID relief

Thursday, the U.S. surpassed 9 million COVID-19 infections. North Carolina has seen a 28% increase in deaths in the last two weeks. In all, 4,307 N.C. souls are not around to hear the president say the virus is vanishing.

Congress and the president are treating us like we don’t matter. If we don’t vote, they might be right.

The House’s month-long negotiations with a White House that has no idea what it wants are costing North Carolinians their lives, jobs and housing security.

If the president and Congress care about us, they have a terrible way of showing it. Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr had a chance to exercise leadership and pass a meaningful COVID-19 response bill, but politics, not people, took over.

The most important thing we can do now is vote for our lives.

Christine Ashley, Saxapahaw

A Medicare lie?

President Trump’s recent TV ad that says he reduced the cost of Medicare to subscribers by 44% is another barefaced lie about his accomplishments. According to a Sept. 20 press release from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the rate reductions were for Medicare Advantage programs, not Medicare. The release also says “Massive savings on insulin” were produced for Part D participants, apparently by reducing the copay from $37 (which I’ve been paying) to $35. So $2 is massive?

Will Kaydos, Raleigh

Sacrifice

America had 291,557 U.S. soldiers die in battle during World War II, and those on the home front sacrificed greatly.

We had a strong president who inspired us to “stay the course” until victory. And these brave warriors have not been forgotten, but properly honored in holidays, parades, books, movies and on TV.

Today, we’re fighting a war against coronavirus. We’ve had 229,000 U.S. deaths, with predictions that the number will surpass WWII deaths by year’s end.

Yet, we have a president who finds those who died an irritation to his reelection, people to be quietly forgotten. He encourages his supporters not to sacrifice — simple things like wearing a mask and avoiding large gatherings.

Are Americans that much weaker today than the WWII generation? If so, I worry greatly about our country.

Doug Jurney, Raleigh

J. Peder Zane

What world is J. Peder Zane living in? (Oct. 27 Opinion) His comment that the left is “making false claims about resurgent white supremacy” bears no relationship to reality. DHS Secretary Chad Wolf recently said white supremacists constitute a “lethal threat” to this country, and FBI director Christopher Wray said essentially the same thing in Congressional testimony.

Maybe Zane needs to join the real world, where the rise of violent racism is not some figment of leftist imagination, but the real deal.

Lewis Beale, Raleigh

Climate leaders

As a pediatrician, I am called on to educate my patients and their families about health risks.

We are already seeing health impacts of climate change in North Carolina. Dangerous heat days lead to heat stroke and dehydration. Worse pollen seasons trigger life-threatening asthma flares. Hurricane and flood relief efforts divert money from essential health services.

Black and Latinx people are hit hardest by climate change, compounding racial injustice.

Our health transcends politics. As a doctor, I can treat disease, but I can’t prevent the health harms of the climate crisis without help. Vote for leaders who support a rapid transition to clean energy to protect the health of all our citizens.

Dr. Stephanie Johannes, Durham

Gun violence

Regarding “Muslim ‘invaders’ and transgender ‘delusion’: Lt. gov. candidate’s posts draw criticism,” (Oct. 10)

Gun violence is a public health crisis North Carolina must address. Legislation that has worked in other states has been introduced here to stem the injuries and deaths while protecting due process.

Unfortunately, the gun rights lobby has grown so extreme it has prevented any real dialogue or progress. There is such overwhelming support for change from the majority of people in North Carolina that extremist players at the table won’t work anymore.

To move out of this cycle of stalemate on gun violence prevention, we must elect those who’ll work across the aisle. People like Mark Robinson, GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, continue to fan the flames of division that poison the legislative process.

Wesley McMahon

North Carolinians Against Gun Violence board president

This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 12:59 PM.