by Julie Boler
NC Rep. Bob Steinburg (R) Constitution-loving Americans across the political spectrum should be horrified by the way some members of the NC General Assembly have interpreted their lawmaking role. When asked last year by local filmmaker Eric Preston why he favored getting rid of Sunday voting during the NC Early Voting period, NC House Representative Bob Steinburg blithely explained that he based his position on his own religious beliefs. He is opposed to voting on Sundays, he stated, just as he is to hunting on Sundays, because, according to his faith, Sunday is a day of rest.
Of course, nobody is asking Steinburg to vote on Sunday. And as Preston pointed out, there are folks in the state who have very different religious beliefs, and that in fact, there are African-American churches who actually make the voting process a part of their ministry.
As Preston expressed to Steinburg, "The Sunday before elections, (these churches) take church buses full of people to vote, which makes it easier for them." He then asked Steinburg, "Do you feel they shouldn't have that opportunity?"
Steinburg: "They have six days a week to get everybody out to vote. On Sundays, that's the Lord's day. They can be celebrating the Word and so forth, but I don't think that's a day to be traipsing people to the polls...if they've got the will, there's other days they can do it. They can meet at the church on Saturday. Or on Friday. Or Wednesday, or Tuesday; whatever the case may be. But Sunday? No."
It's hard to argue with that. There are six other days of the week on which we could all vote; days that wouldn't offend Representative Steinburg's personally held religious tenets. And he gives some great suggestions. There's Friday, as he mentions, and you've got those perfectly good Tuesdays. How hard could it be to find a day of the week to traipse to the polls, that wouldn't offend Representative Steinburg's religious sensibilities?
But for some reason, I just decided to look for one of the Early Voting sites in my county that still have some Sunday hours. I'm going to head over there tomorrow and vote. May God have mercy on my soul.
Of course, nobody is asking Steinburg to vote on Sunday. And as Preston pointed out, there are folks in the state who have very different religious beliefs, and that in fact, there are African-American churches who actually make the voting process a part of their ministry.
As Preston expressed to Steinburg, "The Sunday before elections, (these churches) take church buses full of people to vote, which makes it easier for them." He then asked Steinburg, "Do you feel they shouldn't have that opportunity?"
Steinburg: "They have six days a week to get everybody out to vote. On Sundays, that's the Lord's day. They can be celebrating the Word and so forth, but I don't think that's a day to be traipsing people to the polls...if they've got the will, there's other days they can do it. They can meet at the church on Saturday. Or on Friday. Or Wednesday, or Tuesday; whatever the case may be. But Sunday? No."
It's hard to argue with that. There are six other days of the week on which we could all vote; days that wouldn't offend Representative Steinburg's personally held religious tenets. And he gives some great suggestions. There's Friday, as he mentions, and you've got those perfectly good Tuesdays. How hard could it be to find a day of the week to traipse to the polls, that wouldn't offend Representative Steinburg's religious sensibilities?
But for some reason, I just decided to look for one of the Early Voting sites in my county that still have some Sunday hours. I'm going to head over there tomorrow and vote. May God have mercy on my soul.
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