Opinion Roundup: Aug. 31, 2016 -- Early voting, gerrymandering, diverting offenders and dealing with opioids

Sunday needed for early voting success (Greenville Daily Reflector) -- As if the battle over gender identity wasn’t enough to place North Carolina under the national microscope — for all the wrong reasons — the state’s ongoing battles over voting access have only made matters worse.

Early voting plan a fair attempt (Southern Pines Pilot) -- The Declaration of Independence sets forth that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The act of voting neatly embodies all three of those, and yet what some North Carolina Republicans have pursued in regard to early voting is downright alien. Led by state Republican Party Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse, there are those who would abridge — rather than expand —your ability to vote. Fortunately, Moore County’s Board of Elections has not paid heed.

Fighting partisan gerrymandering is a job for the Supreme Court (LA Times) -- Partisan gerrymandering — the drawing of legislative districts to benefit one political party at the expense of another — is a venerable feature of American politics. It’s also an insidious and anti-democratic practice.

Dangerous silence (Greensboro News & Record) -- A police officer, gun drawn, yells at a suspect to put his hands up. The subject reaches for his pocket. The officer shoots.

Programs divert offenders to chance at success (Fayetteville Observer) - -In just about every other state, if a kid who's 16 or 17 gets in trouble with the law, he'll go through a juvenile court and corrections system that will send him into adulthood without the formidable roadblock of a criminal record.

SEN. BURR: Update on opioid fight (Wilmington Star-News column) -- There's an ongoing public health crisis with prescription painkillers in North Carolina that is devastating thousands of families every year -- the opioid abuse epidemic. It's a heartbreaking trend that cannot be fixed from Washington, but it can be addressed with the help of effective policies passed by Congress.