As Henry David Thoreau once said, “Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.”

Years ago one of my best friends, Corey Mock, began studying spirituality by reading ‘Conversations with God’ by Neale Donald Walsch. The book is one person’s reflection on communicating with God while learning more about the power of faith outside of organized religion. It ultimately challenges people's perception of God while introducing new ideas and ways of looking at religion.  I personally found it very inspiring and fitting with my beliefs while allowing me to expand and explore my thoughts on who i think God is.

I know that Corey is spiritual person who not only believes in the power of God but the power of the individual to improve the world around them. It disappoints me that some people have chosen to misrepresent Corey’s faith for short term political advantage. The truth is that Corey lives his beliefs and works passionately to improve the lives of others. I challenge you to sit down with him to truly understand his views instead of making inaccurate accusations.

I write this letter from an African village in Central Malawi where I an serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  I am deeply honored to know Corey Mock and proud of the positive difference if is making in America. If only we had more people of Corey's caliber could we more positively impact people's lives.

Last week, reading the Grand Forks Herald, I noticed three letters to the editor that were written by North Dakota citizens chastising Corey Mock for two opinion articles that he wrote in 2007 for UND’s Dakota Student newspaper. On initial thought, and as a former editor of the publication, I took great pride knowing that these three individuals took it upon themselves to peruse the proverbial pages of the online version of our newspaper and enjoy its content. Unfortunately, with a little more consideration, I realized what it really was that these folks did. They didn’t so much absorb and enjoy the journalistic efforts of our Dakota Student employees, instead, they bypassed the headlines and jumped straight to the “Search” function, typed in Corey Mock and looked for whatever damning article they could find to derail what had been a positive campaign for Secretary of State.

And they apparently found exactly what they were looking for.

The two articles they discovered discuss Mock’s views on organized religion and voter apathy. The three citizens, (once of which is the Executive Director of the Republican Party in North Dakota) wasted no time in coming to an obviously misrepresented conclusion regarding Mr. Mock’s ideals with respect to the importance of voting as well as the existence of God and in turn skewed his words into something negative.

Given the fact that I once headed up the journalistic efforts of the Dakota Student newspaper, I have a level of insight with respect to what goes through the mind of a columnist working at a student-run newspaper. While Corey’s intentions in writing these articles have obviously been lost on these three presumably intelligent individuals, his purpose for publishing both pieces was to ignite a vibrant and positive discourse among the students at UND.

In one article, he essentially begs the student community and everyone who read his article, through satirical means, to think about what they were doing when they submitted their votes for student body leadership positions. He was forcing his readers to ask questions of themselves and actively participate in the voting process not by simply casting a ballot, but by truly involving themselves in the process.

With regard to his article on religion, Mr. Mock isn’t demeaning or debating the existence of God, rather, he is only asking that people remain open-minded to the perception of God in each individual.

As an employee of the Dakota Student, Corey Mock’s job was to comment on the way he saw the world. Furthermore, as is the job of any good opinion columnist, Corey used his position to provoke thought and dialogue in a university setting where students are encouraged to think outside the box. He vied for change in the voting behavior of students, he didn’t negate or belittle its importance. He begged students to think openly about religion and God, not denounce His existence.

When I began working as an editor four years ago, Corey had a bit of a reputation for writing articles that were anything but cut and dry. He was known across the campus community for writing out-of-the-box pieces that kept his readers on their toes. It’s often the characteristic of a good reporter to be able to take on an alternate persona for the purpose of making people think—and that’s exactly what he did, quite successfully I might add.

The Corey that I first met four years ago is, in many ways, the same one I know today. He’s one of intelligence and sound moral character who is not afraid to push some buttons and incite at the very least discussion and discourse, if not significant change. He’s not afraid to speak his mind and break away from the status quo—it’s the reason he chose a life of public service—and for the position of Secretary of State, that’s exactly what we need.

Today, the Republican Party isn’t asking the tough questions or begging its voter base to think critically about the issues North Dakota faces. Instead, they’re focusing their efforts on attacking a young and vibrant candidate who exudes individuality and isn’t afraid to challenge.

It appears that aspiring fiction writers have found a place to publish their stories on The Forum’s Opinion page, e.g., Fred LaVenuta (“Mock’s campaign is despicable,” Aug. 25) The letter attacking state Rep. Corey Mock, candidate for secretary of state, had to be fiction because it couldn’t be further from the truth.

The bulk of this letter talks about a national political organization known as the Secretary of State Project, an organization that supports races in other states. Short of criticizing this organization while citing a right-wing blog, the author fails to mention that Mock has not received money from this organization, nor is he listed as a candidate within their campaign. Not only are these bold accusations false but intentionally destructive in a deceptive way.

There are two candidates in this campaign. One has issued three news releases in four years, lost the paperwork of a statewide candidate, caused six- to eight-week registration delays for our small businesses, and has outsourced nearly all of our election process to an out-of-state, bankrupt company. The other candidate is Mock, a state legislator who has supported independent government commissions and advocates for fairness in our leadership.

It is time that North Dakota elects a secretary of state who will bring our government into the 21st century, work with small businesses to help them succeed, and be an advocate for better government.

It is time we elect Mock to be our secretary of state.

I want to thank Rep. Corey Mock for bringing to the light the amount of overtime pay being distributed in the Secretary of State's office.

It was extremely shocking to see that 3,600 hours of overtime were paid to Al Jaeger's staff.

Even more shocking was the two salaried managers of the office accruing 1,154 hours themselves. From what I can gather from other reports, this is an exception to other offices at the state Capitol.

In the last four months alone, Jaeger's office has forgotten to place an individual on the ballot, signed a contract with an out-of-state company (which he attempted to deny) and sent an election certificate to a candidate without enough votes to actually be placed on one.

I just don't trust Jaeger's leadership after these displays of mismanagement, and look forward to a fresher perspective in our Secretary of State's office come November.

Lately, I've been disgusted to read the headlines regarding Secretary of State Al Jaeger.

First, he forgets to put a candidate on the ballot, then he mistakenly tells a candidate that they will be allowed on the November ballot and the primary voting numbers were low across the state.

He has made excuses for the ballot slipups and claims that voter turnout is not in his job description. Now, he's being sued.

North Dakota needs a new secretary of state. North Dakota needs Corey Mock.

Corey Mock is a legislator from District 42 in Grand Forks. I went to college with Corey and was always impressed with his enthusiasm, intelligence, passion for public service and his can-do attitude. These are all traits that we need in our secretary of state.

Corey will work on voter education and voter turnout as the next secretary of state. He will update the website to make it more user-friendly and he will maintain positive relationships with new and established businesses in North Dakota. Corey will make the office open and efficient.

Corey Mock is the right candidate for secretary of state. Al Jaeger has been making too many mistakes that are costing this state time and money.

It's time for a change in the secretary of state's office, and Corey Mock is that change.

GRAND FORKS — Mistakes made by Al Jaeger, North Dakota’s secretary of state, and his staff involving the mishandling of the primary election paperwork for the Libertarian Party’s candidate for the Public Service Commission are, indeed, a big deal.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem’s advice to settle the manner by putting the candidate’s name on the November ballot is only missing one component: a penalty against Jaeger for letting this happen.

The honorable remedy should be for Jaeger to “fall on his sword,” either by resigning or withdrawing his name from the November ballot.

Scott Nelson

Secretary of State Al Jaeger’s most recent mistake — forgetting to list Libertarian candidate Joshua Voytek on the June ballot — is what I consider the last straw.

My frustrations began when I read of Jaeger’s ignorance in signing a contract with a bankrupt out-of-state company. My doubts were fueled when he blamed everyone else for poor election turnout instead of taking the criticism and working toward a solution.

But leaving the Public Service Commission candidate off the ballot is inexcusable, and what’s worse, it seems our state laws will have to be bent in order to get the candidate on the November ballot.

It is unfair to Voytek and North Dakota voters to break the law because our 18-year incumbent secretary of state lost the paperwork.

This episode makes me wonder about all the other mistakes that are “mixed up with business registration documents in his (Jaeger’s) Capitol office mail” — the excuse given in the June 18 Associated Press news story.

No matter which mistake one looks at, Jaeger has proven that he is not fit for re-election, and I think North Dakota no longer is fit for his mistakes.

Grant Hauschild