Vote and Win One Million Dollars

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Via Marginal Revolutions, I come across this absolute gem in latest democracy tryouts. In order to improve voter turnout, the Arizona Voter Reward Act [pending approval] will give every voter a chance to win a grand prize of $1 million. Alex Tabbarok is right on the dot when he questions the involvement of such people in the democratic process. The act of voting transcends economic justification because the marginal benefit to an individual is minimal [more so in South Mumbai].

Yet people go out and vote every election and in spite of low turnouts, we are somehow able to keep the wheels of democracy turning and gradually have accepted this form of governance as the least of all evils. The incentive to vote should not be anything more than fulfilling your civic duty and making an effort to participate in the governance of your constituency. If someone needs any other reason for casting a vote, the nation is better off with them staying at home.

“Vote and Win One Million Dollars” [Short URL: http://www.ipatrix.com/?p=1537] was published Monday, July 24th, 2006 at 7:11 pm by Patrix, filed under Governance, and tagged as democracy, Governance, voting. Both comments and linkbacks are closed.

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http://palscape.wordpress.com BongoPondit
I admit that this might not be a best idea, but the person behind the effort: Dr. Mark Osterloh is a very interesting person – he ran for Arizona’s governor position, campaigning on a bicylce (in a very hot state !). Do listen to his interview with Melissa Block on NPR, where he explains his rationale.
He makes an interesting comment about how you get fined Australia for not voting. Isn’t that kind of an incentive too ?
Shodan
A terrible idea, in ideal world. But we don’t live there.
American Idol has more voters than real elections.
So I am all for getting more people in the booth. Look what happened when they stayed away. Eight years of sweetness.
http://ipatrix.com Patrix
Bongo, I understand the incentives offered for voting but as Alex (in MR) says, what people are we looking to attract via this method? Singapore has tried to float (or has in effect, I am not sure) an idea that educated people get two votes compared to those who aren’t in the assumption that being educated helps making informed choices. Although personally I would agree to that logic but something doesn’t seem right.
Shodan, why American Idol has more voters than real elections might be the fact that it is easier to do so even though they pay to do so.

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Vote and Win One Million Dollars

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