Feb. 15 letters to the editor: Lillie lambasted for vote; voter ID argued; GOP complaints

Lillie vote failed Minnesota’s veterans in search of jobs

As a retired Navy officer, I was disappointed in my state senator's recent vote. At a time in which thousands of military veterans are starting to return home from serving our country overseas, it is imperative we make sure everything that can be done, will be done for our men and women who have sacrificed so much for this country.

Unfortunately, the unemployment rate for veterans here is higher than the national average. In an effort to help reverse that trend, an amendment to a bill, S.F. 1599, was introduced to the State Government Committee which would require companies to give preferential treatment to veterans who have served overseas. Our Sen. Ted Lillie helped vote down that amendment, and a great opportunity to give more veterans the ability to provide for their families was lost.

We hope that in the future, Sen. Lillie will remember the obligation we have to the men and women who have served our country, and act accordingly. This district and this state deserve representatives who will look out for our veterans, and so far Sen. Lillie has failed.

Ken Thielman - Woodbury

Voter ID bill would strengthen Minnesota’s voting system

People keep saying that there is no evidence of voter fraud, but I'm going to take the word of the United States Supreme Court, which said flagrant examples of voter fraud "have been documented throughout this nation's history by respected historians and journalists."

Voter ID does not prevent people from voting. Other states have seen increased voter turnout after enacting voter ID laws.

Minnesota is breaking records in convictions for voter fraud and thousands of Election Day registrants are being flagged for challenge due to unverifiable names and/or addresses after their votes were counted.

Most Minnesotans already have state-issued ID in their pockets and they generally carry it with them all the time. How many people walk around with a utility bill in their pocket? It’s common sense to use your ID at the polls instead of an easily forged utility bill.

This bill will help people who may be having a hard time getting along in society because of a lack of identification by providing ID at no charge.

This has the added benefit of enabling people to get work, open bank accounts and participate in other normal functions of society that are impossible without photo ID.

It's past the time to modernize our 19th Century election system with voter ID.

Shirley P. Kraus - Woodbury

Are Republicans unable to legislate?

What is it about legislating that our District 56 legislators don’t understand? Did we really want people who think the party line is more important than common good?

I am very disturbed by the tendency of our legislators to abdicate their responsibility to us by placing the burden of their decision making back onto our shoulders. It is being seen that the Republican Party, rather than utilizing the art of compromise, which is the basic principal of democracy, they want us to decide what to do. I did not want anyone representing me in the Legislature to not be willing to make decisions that benefit their constituents. Constitutional amendments should be proposed for important issues, not just because you can't get your agenda agreed to. None of those issues being proposed as constitutional amendments meet that criteria.

It is their job. I can hardly believe that our three have concerns and feelings that mirror all of those promoted by the party leaders. In all my years in Woodbury I have not seen our representatives be nothing more than talking heads that spout party line and position statements.

If I remember correctly, the three said that they wanted to represent us, not the Republicans in the rest of the state. Come on Mr. Lillie, Ms. Lohmer and Kieffer, show us that you can really, really legislate those things that are of importance to residence of your District.

John Shirts - Woodbury

Voter ID ballot measure wouldn’t achieve election perfection

I was at the River Valley Action Forum in Woodbury on Jan. 31, and noted with interest the comments, especially Sandy Halvorson's (“Consider reasons to adopt voter ID standard,” Feb. 8) on the Voter ID issue.

Two responses:

1. I suspect I know why she was upset by "gigantic tug on ... [her] heartstrings" at the meeting. Things like that happen when an alternative truth one has been trying to avoid enter one's space.

Maybe the Minnesota League of Women Voters video about the fallacy of Voter ID made a lot of sense. It's watchable online at www.lwvmn.org.

2. Before the session I had checked into the alleged voter fraud issue by calling the Washington County elections department. I was interested in what they had to say.

A very polite lady told me that after all the dust had settled, there were about 50 verifiable complaints among about 140,000 Washington County voters.

We didn't go into specifics. I was simply interested in the big picture. A quick bit of arithmetic shows that one of every 2,800 voters didn't follow the rules.

Sandy tells a different story, gathered from some non-specific source, about "5,000 Election Day registrants ... after the 2008 election." I presume she refers to Minnesota, and if so, there were nearly 3 million Minnesota voters in 2008. Again, simple math suggests a problem from one of every 650 voters.

There is a huge discrepancy here. Who is to be believed? But even the worst case scenario reveals minimal problems.

A perfect system, especially when human beings are involved, is impossible to achieve.

Dick Bernard - Woodbury

Tags: letters to the editor, opinion