Letters to the editor for Monday, Nov. 17

An unintended consequence of the closeness of the U.S. Senate race is the exposing of the flaws in the current voting rules.

The concept of voter intent, while high-sounding, injects subjectivity into what should be a purely objective and nonpartisan process. Because of this, elections have become an interpretive activity, allowing voters to disregard the rules and leaving it to others to attempt to correctly discern the meanings of Xs, circles, check marks, smiley faces, notations and other noncomplying markings on now-anonymous ballots. Voters should reasonably be expected to fill in a circle without claiming that it creates an undue hardship or that it confuses them.

Furthermore, the lax identification requirements invite dishonest people to corrupt the process by simply appearing at the polling place and claiming to be someone whom they know has not yet voted. Even if the real voter shows up later, the damage has been done with no practical way to correct a previously miscast vote or apprehend a fraudulent voter. A reasonable precaution would be to require proper documentation and to photograph anyone not having any and then holding out their ballot until the polls are closed.

Judges participating in recounts should come from outside the courts which potentially could be hearing cases resulting from the election being recounted. This would permit all appellate judges and Supreme Court justices to hear and decide the cases rather than the remaining judges being asked to review decisions made by their fellow judges. Any person currently holding an elected partisan office should not be a participant on a canvassing board.

RAY ROSSBERG, EDEN PRAIRIE

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Katherine Kersten's Nov. 12 column about the Senate recount is way off base on one count. I have serious problems with her using the phrase "100 newly discovered votes" when referring to Pine County.

The past week, I have seen a Fox News editorial columnist, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes talking about these 100 added votes in Pine County. They were not 100 ballots just showing out of nowhere. There is no conspiracy out of Pine County. Our election officials are respected by our locals, no matter if they are Republicans or Democrats. Please show some respect to our county as well.

TIM FRANKLIN, SANDSTONE, MINN.;

OWNER AND PUBLISHER, PINE COUNTY COURIER

The recent election provides ample support for Allie Shah's observation that many Americans do not accept fully, and even fear, Muslims ("American Muslims get cold shoulder," Nov. 11).

Keith Ellison, a Muslim, serves our district well and should be able to rise to the presidency. But could he? While no legal religious test exists for that office, our practice has been to elect only Christians, or people who profess to be Christians, to the nation's highest office.

Obama's election shows that we Americans can move beyond past tacit restrictions on who can be president; there's hope, then, that as we continue to grow, Jewish, Muslim, and other non-Christian parents will be able to say with confidence to their children, "You can be whatever you want to be; the sky's the limit."

MIRIAM MEYERS, MINNEAPOLIS

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In response to Allie Shah's Nov. 11 commentary, it was a band of terrorists invoking the name of Allah, and not raging Catholic nuns, who slammed commercial airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 innocents on Sept. 11, 2001.

Here in Minnesota, Muslims routinely demand that rules be changed to accommodate them in schools and in the workplace. And yet in Muslim-dominated countries, non-Muslims have historically been and continue to be persecuted and killed. In these countries, proselytizing is strictly forbidden, yet angry mullahs are celebrated for invoking Allah to entice vulnerable young people into strapping bombs to their bodies and setting them off in crowds of innocent people.

Muslims in this country need a reality check. The fear and trepidation of Muslims and Islam is well-founded, and if it is discrimination it is meritorious discrimination. For American Muslims to play the discrimination card is an insult to the millions of Americans who fought against insidious discrimination over the past several generations.

MICHAEL DMOWSKI, EDINA

In regard to the Nov. 7 story "Food shelves get boost," I would like to refute the statement, "the poor can't afford to donate to food shelves and the rich just don't."

I disagree. I am hopeful that many food shelves like ours are blessed to have donors of all levels: the wealthiest who not only donate dollars and time, the middle who give and say "yes" to help in whatever way possible, to the clients served who repay the debt in $10 increments when they can.

Yes, this is a difficult time to serve those in need. I ask that each reader pause and reflect on the economy, your budget and your "real" needs, and make calculated efforts to support your local food shelf -- in doing so, you will serve your neighbors who you may not know are utilizing a food shelf on a regular basis.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

INTERCONGREGATION