North Carolina’s candidate filing period for the 2024 General Election ended last week, and after a slow start, a flurry of Western North Carolina candidates have qualified for federal, state and local races. 

To the Editor:

We now live in a free country. We cherished the freedom to worship as we choose; the freedom to pick our leaders, and the right to a free press; the freedom to teach our children as we choose; and the freedom to make choices about our bodies and who we love.

National, state and local offices will be on the ballot across North Carolina for a high-stakes 2024 election, and it all begins next week, as candidates will begin submitting paperwork to launch their campaigns.

Fears that North Carolina’s new voter ID implementation would disenfranchise legitimate voters have proven unfounded — at least in Haywood County, where municipal election turnout was stronger than usual. 

Town elections are seldom exciting, but the race in Waynesville is generating a lot of buzz.

Despite all the important elections taking place in Western North Carolina this fall, there’s probably no other town with more on the line than Canton. 

As two of the longest serving election officials in North Carolina, we write from Hickory with an important invitation for voters across the state — and an urgent warning.