North metro letters

Here in Minnesota we like to be fair. Voters have been tolerant of Mr. Coleman's right to contest his loss in the Senate election. I wonder though how tolerant we'll be as this progresses.

Mr. Coleman's opening volley is to send subpoenas for twice rejected absentee ballots only to election officials in areas where he had support on Election Day. Mr. Coleman appears not to care what voters' intentions are, if all votes are counted, what process we follow or how above board and fair the recount was. He seems only interested in manipulating the process so he wins.

I thought this election would finally prove how important every vote is. Mr. Coleman seems intent on proving they don't matter at all.

GEORGE F. GREENE

BROOKLYN PARK

I like Al Franken but I never thought he was this stupid. Why can't he wait until the legal process takes it course? This is beyond me. Relax, Al.

J. TARNUE MORYAN

I would like to issue a counterpoint to the column by John Hottinger and Carl Cummins ("Runoff elections? Yes, please -- but make them instant," Jan. 14) regarding runoff voting with an emphasis on instant runoff voting (IRV). IRV seems like a good system to me, but I think it may be confusing to voters because they are choosing all candidates for each race in order rather than their one preference, which is what is used now. However, we can not continue with the current system because there have been more third-party candidates getting a significant number of votes in recent years and plurality voting really only guarantees majority wins in two-candidate races.

On top of it all, there are few of those in today's elections, with most of them being races for state legislative seats.

The letter mentioned a proposal by Sen. Rest and Rep. Brod that would require a runoff election be held the month after Election Day in races where the winner did not receive a majority of the votes. While I think this is the runoff system that would work best for Minnesota, I asked myself: Why hold a runoff one month after Election Day when it could be held two weeks after the general election like in France? I think all elections (primary, general or runoff) should be held on the weekend rather than a weekday in the interest of increasing voter turnout, since most people are at home in their voting precincts anyway.

I have already told my elected legislative officials in St. Paul about this and I think other people who believe in this runoff election system should do the same. In closing, if the election system is to change in the future, I think there should be a public awareness campaign on the scale of the one used to inform people of the switch from analog to digital television because such a change would be just as significant.

DAN WICHT

Minnesota is in need of a partial budget solution, by building and managing one or several new casinos in the Twin Cities. Every state that has casinos, participates or shares directly or indirectly (revenue sharing) from Iowa, California, Mississippi, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Louisiana, Connecticut, and on and on.

A casino or two in the Twin Cities would provide jobs from busing tables to programming computers, from dealing cards to managing hotels. These are not all low-wage jobs, (but starting entry positions for some, for future advancement) and the jobs come with health benefits and paid vacations, perks that cannot be taken for granted in our sagging economy.

If we do not build new casinos, it is time the state if Minnesota gets something from the existing casinos! A starter is the example set by the state of California. In 2008, the Shingle Springs Band of Wintun Indians near Sacramento agreed to pay 25 percent of the net win to the state of California.

It is time for Minnesotans to participate and share in the revenues of this industry.

TOM KANGAS

I'd like to thank the gentleman who pulled my son out of the median at 2 a.m. last week. He spun out on ice and hit the guard wire and was pretty much doomed to wait for a tow, among the other 200-plus folks.

After he hit the wire, someone in a Suburban pulled behind him and pulled him back out and helped pick up the "pieces" of his truck left in the ditch. This man would not give his name; he only said "I need to get going." My son may have possibly waited for hours in the frigid weather. Something Minnesota Nice in these days of doom and gloom. Hope he reads this!

MARY KRATZKE

BIG LAKE

Where are the brains in Detroit? I just watched a report from Detroit where "the brains" made just 75 automobiles valued at over $900,000. Excuse me, but after the huge auto bailout, where is the sense in that? Maybe they could have saved the taxpayers a large chunk of money by skipping that plan, design and manufacture.