Page 3 - The Fayetteville Press Newspaper August 2024 Edition

The Fayetteville Press August 9, 2024 Edition
Voters must be engaged to bring about the changes they desire
The 2024 election season is already in
full swing. As voters in a number of states
face new restrictions for the first time in a
presidential election, we’ve already seen
problems in primaries across the country.
A new photo ID requirement led to long
lines in Wisconsin. A reduction in polling
places forced some to wait five hours to
vote in Arizona. New rules created confu-
sion in North Carolina. This could be an
early glimpse of problems in November —
as voters face the first presidential election
in 50 years without the full protections of
the Voting Rights Act, which was designed
to prevent discrimination in voting.
The burden is on all of us that care about
our communities, our schools, the availabil-
ity of affordable housing, and the state of
our environment. We have a responsibility
to do more than simply register to vote and
show up at the polls at the appointed time.
Instead, we have to verbalize our wants,
elect people who agree and campaign for
those same desires, hold said elected offi-
cials accountable as they vote for changes
in our community and constantly stay vigi-
lant in the face of those working hard be-
hind the scene to deprive more and more
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Page 3a
people the right to participate in what
should be a constitutional right!
While a young teen in attendance at
Mattock Memorial AME Zion Church in
Fayetteville, NC I was instructed on the
importance of voting and electing people
that had your best interest at heart. This
instruction was given with the same fer-
vor of asking Christ to be your personal
Savior. We took the act of voting seriously
and every 17-year-old looked forward to
registering to vote and exercising our
God-given right of determining who would
do the most for our families, churches,
and communities.
Where is that fervor now? Where is
the excitement in choosing a candidate that
mirrors your views and doing all that you
can to ensure that they are elected and
staying true to their promises?
Now is not the time to “sit out”. We
do not have the luxury of allowing
someone else to decide our future!
Today, our nation faces enormous
challenges. We didn’t have an American
Revolution to return to a period where a
By Former Cumberland County Commissioner Charles Evans single person would decide our individual
(910) 978-6643 fate. Speak up now!
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