I support Sunday voting. It is legal, affordable and the moral thing to do.

State Board of Elections Chair Andy Penry stated when approving plans for 20 odd counties, several of which included Sunday voting, “I believe the more opportunity people have to vote, the more likely it is that they will exercise their right to vote.”

Suppression of voting is an effective GOP tactic along both race and economic lines. First is the “we can’t afford it.” The county finds ways to finance myriad efforts. It allots tax incentives enticing businesses to the area.

Other arguments include overextending staff, doubt that voters would come out on Sunday and religious objections for holding voting on a day of rest and worship.

Surely, the county commission will invest in ensuring the full voice of the people is heard. Sunday voting is helpful for both minority working citizens and low-income voters. It is a day heavily used by African Americans.

This election promises to have high voter turn-out. It is imperative to accommodate the full spectrum of voters. Many voters don’t make up their minds until late in the process. The prospect of long lines and inclement weather is very real.

W.E.B DuBois wrote almost 120 years ago, “The right to vote, civic equality, and an education according to ability. Negroes must insist in season and out of season that voting is necessary to manhood, discrimination is barbarism, and black boys need education just as well as white boys.”

Both discrimination and pockets of poverty still exist in Rowan County. Voting is the great equalizer of our society. It breaks down the social construct of race, and the inequity of wealth.

Join with me in encouraging our commissioners’ approval of funds for Sunday voting.

— Michael Stringer

Cleveland