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Al Sharpton, Virginia
Newell encourage
local voters
Voters’ guide
compares judicial
candidates
side-by-side
BY TEVIN STINSON
THECHRONICLE
Over the past few
weeks, Union Baptist
Church (UBC) has been
hosting a series of elec
tion forums where guests
come together to discuss
the importance of voting.
And last week Rev. Dr. Al
Sharpton and local legend
Dr. Virginia Newell joined
UBC senior pastor Bishop
Sir Walter Mack during a
virtual forum to ignite vot
ers here in Forsyth County.
When discussing the
need for the African Amer
ican community to show
up on Election Day, Sharp-
ton, a well-known civil
rights leader and founder
of the National Action
Network (NAN), said ev
ery time Black people
take a step forward in this
country, there has been a
pushback or backlash. “We
fought all the way through
to Barack Obama, but this
time the backlash came a
little more manicured, a
little more polished ... in
the person of a reality star
named Donald Trump,”
said Sharpton during the
Al Sharpton
Photos by Tevin Stinson
BY HOWARD PEARRE
Dr. Virginia Newell
virtual forum. He said
the fact that our ancestors
fought, bled, and died for
the right to vote should be
more than enough reason
to exercise that right on
Nov. 3.
“You and I should not
need any message to vote,”
Sharpton continued. “The
fact that they didn’t want
to give us that vote and
people suffered and died,
paid the price with their
life, to give us the right
to vote. So everybody un
der the sound of my voice
should get out and vote.
You can vote early ... get
everybody in your house
to vote because we are not
voting for a party, we are
voting because our people
paid the price for us to be
able to vote and vote to
keep those who will keep
fighting for what is right.”
Dr. Newell, who re
cently celebrated her 103rd
birthday, is one of the first
Black women to be elect
ed to the Winston-Salem
Board of Alderman (now
City Council). A proud
supporter of the Biden-
Harris ticket, Newell said
“a voteless people is a
hopeless people.”
“Everybody who is
breathing and eligible
to vote should go to the
polls,” Newell continued.
“We are living in a time
that we need to vote. We
have evil above us, we see
it, we hear it, and all the
people talk about it, and
strangely enough some
people believe it... but we
have the power to vote the
right people in.”
The virtual election fo
rum series hosted by Union
Baptist Church will contin
ue Thursday, Oct. 15, with
special guest Judge Greg
Mathis. The forum can be
viewed on the Union Bap
tist Church Facebook page
or by joining the Zoom
meeting.
For more information,
visit https://unionbaptist-
wsnc.org/.
It’s probably a rare citizen who’s not made up his
or her mind by now about how they’ll vote in the U.S.
presidential race.
And it’s probably the same for most of the ballot’s
other top tier races.
But some may find themselves in a head-scratching
moment when they get to the section on judges. Unfor
tunately, the way many voters will resolve this quandary
will be to skip the races if they don’t know anything
about the candidates, or, just as bad, make choices based
on guesswork.
Fortunately, the N.C. Board of Elections publishes a
non-partisan Judicial Voter Guide that gives voters un
biased straightforward information about the statewide
judicial candidates. The guide’s format allows voters to
make comparisons of the candidates for each race. It is
accessible on the N.C. Board of Elections’ website and
also is being mailed to 4.7 million N.C. voter house
holds.
“We are excited for voters to receive this year’s edi
tion of the Judicial Voter Guide,” State Board Execu
tive Director Karen Brinson Bell said in a press release.
“Along with judicial candidate profiles, we’ve included
a wealth of information to ensure North Carolinians are
ready to vote in the upcoming election.”
Each candidate profile includes the candidate’s pho
tograph, city of residence, education, current occupa
tion, employer, legal experience, and a personal state
ment that allows the candidate to express why he or she
is best suited for the position.
The guide provides information on candidates who
are running for three N.C. Supreme Court seats and five
seats on the N.C. Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court candidates include: Cheri Bea
sley, Democrat, and Paul Newby, Republican, for Chief
Justice Seat 1; Phil Berger Jr., Republican, and Lucy In
man, Democrat, for Associate Justice Seat 2; and Tamara
Barringer, Republican, and Mark Davis, Democrat, for
Associate Justice, Seat 4.
N.C. Court of Appeals’ candidates include: Tricia
Shields, Democrat, and April C. Wood, Republican, for
Seat 4; Lora Christine Cubbage, Democrat, and Fred
Gore, Republican, for Seat 5; Gray Styers, Democrat,
and Chris Dillon, Republican, for Seat 6; Reuben F.
Young, Democrat, and Jeff Carpenter, Republican, for
Seat 7; and Chris Brook, Democrat, and Jefferson G.
Griffin, Republican, for Seat 13.
Check your registration online—before it’s too late.
While voters should have confidence in how elections
are being conducted in North Carolina, it is important
to check well in advance of the election to make sure
one’s registration is “active” and that the information,
especially the residential and/or mailing addresses, are
current. Checking this is a two-minute operation and
will save much grief later if there’s a problem. Here are
the steps:
1. Google search NC VOTER LOOKUP.
2. Select VOTER SEARCH.
3. Enter first and last name and select
See Voting on A8
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