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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: YlangYlangBreeze who wrote (66035)	11/6/2002 2:18:28 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

I can imagine not caring if the choices are awful. I don't know who is running in Kholt's area, but if both candidates are appalling, and one is not a partisan, why bother? I am dedicated to the liberals, so I am a partisan. But Kholt isn't really tied to either party. I am not disgusted by that at all. I'd be much more disgusted if she voted Republican :-) Let's keep our priorities.

To: YlangYlangBreeze who wrote (66035)	11/23/2002 9:59:42 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 82486

When I saw this column, I thought of you... Tucson, Arizona Saturday, 23 November 2002 Lottery would entice voters to polls By Mark Osterloh SPECIAL TO THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR It is time to institute a privately funded lottery to bring voter participation close to 100 percent and to reward those who vote. It is getting old having to listen repeatedly to words of woe and hand-wringing about the low voter turnout in elections. We have a classic carrot vs. stick approach to this problem. Until now, we have been using the stick of verbal abuse and calling people who do not vote unpatriotic. This method has not worked. It is time to use the carrot; rewarding behavior that we want to encourage. A voter lottery would do just that. The lottery would include all the people who voted in an election and one of them would be randomly drawn to win a substantial cash prize. The amount might be $250,000 or more for a statewide race. The prospect that people could win the lottery just by voting would be a strong incentive for them to register and then to vote. It would cost them nothing, they would be doing their patriotic duty, and they might win a financial reward. This motivation would dramatically increase the number of eligible individuals who would register and vote. Who would fund such a lottery? The obvious answer is the political parties or activists who want to increase the number of people who vote. Political parties spend tremendous amounts of time and money trying to get people to register and to vote. A lottery would solve both these problems at the same time and at a far lower cost. They could hire an independent firm to run the lottery. If there are any legal barriers to instituting a lottery, the laws could be amended. Many of those who do not vote believe that their vote does not count and that the special interest groups and lobbyists control the political process. The prospect of winning the voter lottery would be a powerful motivator. If these disenfranchised individuals see that almost everyone else who lives in circumstances similar to their own is voting, they will realize their vote does count and they will cast thoughtful votes after carefully evaluating the candidates and the issues. There will be those who oppose the idea of dramatically expanding the number of people who vote. But these are individuals who oppose the basic American concept of democracy, namely, government of "all" the people. It may be asserted that if we have a voter lottery, it will stimulate voter fraud and people who are not eligible to vote will vote illegally. This is an invalid argument since the public would be informed that if a voter were chosen by the lottery, he or she could collect the prize only by being truly qualified to vote. If a lottery winner were found to not be a U.S. citizen, that individual would be declared ineligible and another person would be chosen. Imagine what the voter participation rate would be in a national presidential election if the lottery prize were $5 million! * Mark Osterloh, M.D., J.D., is a former candidate for governor of Arizona.