TO THE EDITOR:
It has now been a century since direct popular election of U.S. senators began in 1913. For North Carolinians and all Americans, election of U.S. senators is now by the people and not by the legislature or any special political action groups.
If votes in the 1978 Democratic U.S. Senate primary in this state were sequestered or otherwise withheld from the official tally of all eligible residents, then certainly the time has come for the full returns in this primary election to be released to the public.
Members of the two houses of Congress and the two houses of the N.C. General Assembly are elected by the people, and these bodies constitute the federal and state legislative branches of government for the people of North Carolina.
Results in all federal and state legislative elections are not to be interfered with by any group or organization, public or private.
Those who wish to challenge the legal qualifications of candidates for either house of the U.S. Congress or the N.C. General Assembly should observe constitutional guidelines in doing so, and there should be no secret “removal” or “withholding” of any ballots in these elections.
It was 65 years from the beginning of direct election of U.S. senators in 1913 until the 1978 Senate elections in North Carolina, and it has now been 35 years from that election year to the present time.
Therefore, any and all 1978 Democratic Senate primary votes hitherto withheld from the official tally for any reason should now be accounted for with the correct tallies released to the people of North Carolina.
David P. McKnight
Durham
