Our forefathers and ancestors fought to establish and preserve America as a democracy.
The definitions of democracy vary greatly. Let’s try this one: “Democracy is a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.”
In the recent public hearing before the Robbinsville Board of Alderman – regarding a request to schedule a vote on allowing the sale of beer and wine in restaurants and stores during limited hours – democracy nearly died. Thank goodness that calm minds prevailed.
While Robbinsville Mayor Steve Hooper did a yeoman’s job of being fair and letting everyone speak, the limited question of scheduling the vote was not clearly identified. The Alderman had received a request from the Prosperity Committee to place the question on the November 2020 ballot. Placing the question on the ballot is required by North Carolina General Statutes. A local government cannot just adopt an ordinance to decide the issue.
Seventy-two years ago, the issue was on the ballot county-wide. Banning the sale of spirits, beer and wine passed by a very wide margin. Whether or not that decision was wise is not the subject of this column. It was democracy in action and we live with the outcome today.
Many speakers expressed anger that they could not vote because they were not Robbinsville residents. The reason the vote is limited to Robbinsville is that the Graham County Commission refuses to put the issue on a county-wide ballot. Don’t fault the Board of Alderman and the Mayor for something they do not control.
Wisely, the Board of Alderman tabled the item due to a legal opinion from the Town Attorney as upheld by the County Board of Elections that the vote could not be held until 2021. An objection that the election could be held in 2020 was made by the Attorney for the Prosperity Committee. The State Board of Elections Director overruled the local Board. Now the request to hold an election will be back on the Feb. 5 Board of Alderman meeting.
Democracy has been challenged many times over the 244 years since the American Revolution began. We have successfully defended our democracy against foreign enemies, helped our allies to maintain their democracies and survived a Civil War. The enemies of democracy have been formidable and much blood has been shed to uphold the right to vote.
Let us not fall into the trap so ably expressed by Pogo comic strip writer Walt Kelly: “We have met the enemy, and they are us.”
Roger Carlton is a columnist for The Graham Star.