Paying People to Vote in Arizona
Sounds a little fishy, huh? Perhaps even illegal? What if I told you it was being done with money taken at gunpoint!! This is a very slippery slope indeed. If it's okay to bribe people to vote, I don't think it will be long before it's deemed acceptable to punish people for not voting. (The article even talks about this.) I think the proposal is good though, in the sense that people might realize they have a better chance of winning this lottery than of their vote making a difference in the outcome of the election. (Thanks to Kyle J. for this link.)
Comments (9)
I often wondered if it would work out to have a system where everyone has two votes. One that is private, that they can't sell. The, other could bought and sold freely like a commodity. That would keep the powerfull respectfull of the common man, while at the same time limit the common man from voting for a welfare state.
Published: July 18, 2006 10:45 AM
My home state is not exactly a laboratory for brilliant ideas in government. I kind of do wish I still lived there, though. This might be the only thing that would make voting actually worthwhile for me.
Published: July 18, 2006 10:47 AM
Don't we already have this? What is welfare, forced unionism, etc.?
That some (the poor) less frequently vote sure isn't because the gov agents aren't trying to get them to! You can see just how pernicious the effect is when the government succeeds: for instance, the teacher's union ...
Published: July 18, 2006 10:48 AM
One more comment... sorry. People who vote because they believe they might win the lottery, also seem like people who would vote because they believe they deserve something for nothing. If anything, they might have better government if only the people who don't vote get to play the lotto.
Published: July 18, 2006 10:50 AM
One advocate of the voting lottery "dismissed concerns that the kind of people who would vote solely for a chance to win the lottery are likely to be ill-informed about the candidates and the issues."
Priceless quote from this guy: "Once they decide they're going to vote, they will study the issues and candidates, and they will vote in their own enlightened self-interest." I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at that one. I can't say I'm worried about the effect of this lottery thing, though, since I figure most voters are ill informed about the candidates and issues whether there's money involved or not.
Published: July 18, 2006 3:02 PM
Government should not encourage people to vote by giving them hopes of getting money for doing nothing productive. I smell another nanny-state trap.
Published: July 18, 2006 5:44 PM
Recently seen:
"If you voted, you can't complain. You supported what you deservedly got."
Sione
Published: July 19, 2006 4:46 PM
Except for local elections, voting is a sham, something to sucker the people into thinking they have some control over our rulers.
Vote Libertarian, Green, anything but R or D. Voting R or D is throwing your vote away because the same people own both major parties.
Published: July 20, 2006 12:14 PM
Australia fines people who don't vote. It isn't too strange an idea if you put it in a civic duty bucket like jury duty. The fine in MA for skipping jury duty is about $2k, the fine down under for skipping a vote was aboout $300AU, as I recall. Both of course have a downside. People who don't want to be at jury duty might vote with the majority just to get the trial over and done with. In Australia people intentionally spoil their ballots so they can fulfill their duty without actually voting. Beware a recount in Oz!
Published: July 20, 2006 10:18 PM