By The Way...

Monday, July 17, 2006
9:54:00 AM EDT
Hearing Bizarre Love Triangle -- Entropy64
There's an initiative coming up on the November ballot in Arizona which would qualify every voter in that state for a $1 million lottery -- if they vote in the election (naturally, the vote in which they would vote for this initiative would not be included in this largesse):

Mark Osterloh, a political gadfly who is behind the initiative, the Arizona Voter Reward Act, is promoting it with the slogan, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Vote!” He collected 185,902 signatures of registered voters, far more than the 122,612 required, and last week the secretary of state certified the measure for the ballot this fall.

If the general election in 2004 is a guide, when more than 2 million people voted, the 1-in-2-million odds of winning the election lottery would be far better than the Powerball jackpot (currently about 1 in 146,107,962) but not nearly as great as dying from a lightning strike (1 in 55,928).

“People buy a lot of lottery tickets now,” Mr. Osterloh said, “and the odds of winning this are much, much higher.” (And most of the time there is not much lightning in Arizona.)

Catch the snark there?

Aside from the issue of whether this sort of thing is even legal (you're not supposed to be able to buy votes), I find myself with moral issues on this one. I like the idea of encouraging people to vote, but I also think that people should vote without being bribed with a lottery to do so. Call me crazy on this one.

What I really think they should do -- nationwide -- is to make every federal election day a holiday. You get the whole day off to vote! And it would always be on a Tuesday, so it's not like you could make a big three-day vacation out of it or anything. Just vote, then maybe go to a movie or something. Either that, or, like Australia, making voting compulsory and fine people when they don't vote. Or combine the two! You get the day off, and if you don't vote, it'll cost you.

So, think a lottery for voters is a good idea?


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This entry has 6 comments: (Add your own)

• #6 Comment from ajandersonnotary 
  7/20/06 6:43 AM | Permalink

  You're forgetting something.  If you make the Tuesday election day a national holiday, a lot of people WOULD try to make it a four day weekend, and WOULD blow off the election entirely.  You can never go broke underestimating the integrity of the American people.  Wasn't it P. T. Barnum that said that?  (Or words to that effect?  Or maybe I'm thinking of Mark Twain.)
• #5 Comment from phearlez 
  7/18/06 2:40 PM | Permalink

  I never fail to be perplexed by the people who are rabid about getting people to go vote. I'd like to see all the states switch to a system that keeps polls open longer - say, a whole week - but trying to motivate people who don't give a crap? Jeez, let them stay home - I prefer it. People who aren't smart enough to understand how much the selection of these people impacts them and aren't motivated enough to take a few hours out of their day every few years.... I don't WANT them making decisions that impact my life. Clearly they're bozos so I don't trust their judgment.
• #4 Comment from mavarin 
  7/17/06 4:44 PM | Permalink

  I can see a lot of uninformed voting if this passes.  The people who bother to vote without tangible rewards (myself included) often contend with long ballots of people and issues we've barely heard of, researched at the last minute.  If there's an incentive to go in and vote straight ticket or randomly, people will probably do so. - Karen in Tucson
• #3 Comment from monponsett 
  7/17/06 3:38 PM | Permalink

  Vote early and often.
• #2 Comment from onestrangecat 
  7/17/06 3:00 PM | Permalink

  a lottery for voting? where does the money come from? taxpayers?
  bad idea all around.  you are paying for votes.
  
  Kathy

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