Your vote, your choice

Talk about it

North Dakotans have four measures to vote for or against Tuesday.

Understanding them can be difficult, and how to vote in favor or against can be just as hard.

Here are suggestions on how we at The Press think our readers should vote on the measures and briefly why:

- Vote yes on Measure 1 to allow legislators to be appointed to a state office for which the compensation has increased in an amount greater than any general legislative increase provided to full-time state employees during the member’s term of office. Legislator’s service to our state should not disqualify them from government appointments, and would allow the state to benefit from their talents if they are the most qualified for the position. The initial ban to guard against corruption may have been necessary in the 1880s, but is no longer needed in today’s media-scrutinized world, and it’s preventing qualified North Dakotans from serving our state.

- Vote no on Measure 2 to eliminate property taxes. We all think we pay too many taxes, but Measure 2 really is a tax shift. Something needs to be done to reduce everyone’s taxes and with the state’s revenue surplus, the legislators this year should seriously be able to reduce all taxes while still leaving local government in charge of paying for local services.

- Vote no on Measure 3. We all agree nothing is more important than religious freedom, but our freedom of religion is already guaranteed under the Bill of Rights. Under the U.S. Constitution, religious institutions already have the right to discriminate and deny services on the basis of religious belief, but they can’t receive government monies too if they are unwilling to provide programs, services and equal treatment we are otherwise entitled to under U.S. law.

- Vote yes on Measure 4. Enough time and monies have been wasted on retiring the Sioux nickname and logo. University of North Dakota has long had one of the premiere collegiate hockey programs in the nation. Keeping the nickname would eliminate the ability to host national tournaments and eliminate rivalry games with neighboring schools that players and fans look forward to every year. Inclusion into the Big Sky Conference was based on an agreement the university had with the NCAA to retire the nickname and logo. The time has come to move forward at UND and focus on the student athlete and not the Fighting Sioux nickname.

Whether or not you agree with our views, the important thing is to remember your vote does count and we encourage everyone to vote Tuesday.

Publisher Harvey Brock and Editor Jennifer McBride are on the Press editorial board.

Tags: opinion