i live in tucson, so i know about this. what they dont tell you is that the million is only redeemable in DORITOS DOLLARS (cool ranch excluded).

How about we punish people for not going to the polls? Voting is mandatory in some countries, like Brazil. You know people would vote if failing to vote meant getting a ticket.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), with all mail-in voting, I think mandatory voting is unfair because some people are to spacy to keep track of a document like that long enough to get it in and shouldn't be punished for it. If you know you have to vote though, I don't think it would be hard to find your polling place - As long as the Republicans aren't figuring out ways to hide them or make them less accessable in some ways, as they did (or tried to do?) in Pennsylvania recently by reducing the accessability and number polling places with new restrictions on what types of buildings were allowed to have polling places.

ooops, bit of a ramble there.

I never voted when I was younger. What makes that even worse is that it was the Reagan years. In retrospect, it would have been nice to have voted against that bastard, may he burn in hell.

What's strange is that I was always afraid of Reagan starting a war and me getting drafted, yet I never voted. Thanks god I'm not young anymore, cause I'd be seriously freaked out now with this doofus in office. Sometimes being middle-aged has its advantages.

Chetbob, people don't vote because they don't want to and don't have an opinion. If you think the D's are gonna get votes this way, keep in mind a lot of those people may vote Republican, or pick an independent candidate (in states that don't have stupid top two rules).

Think about what it means to force someone uninformed to formally have an opinion.

Yeah, we have enough problems with people forming uninformed opinions right here!

Think about what it means to force someone uninformed to formally have an opinion.

Ahh, they become US voters?

Im with Gore Vidal, when he said, The best argument against democracy is a 10 minute conversation with the average US voter.

As far as Brazil, well, the reason it was mandatory was because the military junta of the 70's declared it so.

Im sure Rummy would love to do that too.

What's interesting are people who have taken the time and made the effort to place their name on the voter list and then sit on their hands.

If you don't wish/plan to vote - don't register in the first place, or cancel your current registration. It is a very straight-forward process.

There's a goodly number of informed people with very strong opinions who don't vote.

Cienna,

A system to reward us voters? Are you fucking kidding me?

You don't need a reward, you spoiled brat. Your right to vote and the ability to affect change is the reward. People worked damn hard to get it.

You are rewarded with virtually every freedom you have in this country. Not that America is perfect... obviously, many aspects of it are fucked up. That's why you need to go vote: Make our country better.

There's your reward.

Finally, Cienna, you are in a priveldged position - speaking through the megaphone of the press. Be careful about spreading dangerous memes to your readers, who need to take the political reigns now more than ever.

Uh...YLV, I think she was ... hmmm... how can I put this so someone with aspergers can understand it...JOKING. Yes, a little light JOCULARITY side dish to go with the news article on paying voters to vote. Sort of to be expected on the running social/political/entertainment/WHATever commentary that is the SLOG, as opposed to CNN or MacNeil Lehrer.

Now, go take a nap or mold a statue of liberty out of dung, honey. Whatever gets you through it.

Yeah YLV, it was indeed a joke. Maybe "Voting: A Thankless Task" was too subtle for some readers.

Hopefully you'll pick up on the irony next time around.

Interesting idea, but I don't think there is much of a gain to society if everyone is just voting randomly for a chance at the prize money. The reward needs to be something that only appeals to people with real opinions, like a subscription to The Economist.

Cienna,

Yes, yes. It is a very funny joke, ROTFLMAO. Um, except that it reflects the thinking of many Stranger readers.

Humor is usually based on a mutual understanding that the joke teller and tellee don't believe what's being said.

But you plausibly wrote, "I, like many young Americans, get sick of being pressured to vote every time an election rolls around."

Most young folks actually feel that way. Your post reinforced that sentiment. And that's not very funny.

ROTFLMAO:

A chatroom abbreviation used mainly by imbeciles, usually in response to something mildly, often very mildly, amusing. People who use this type of shorthand should be avoided like the Spanish flu.

I would've married her, but I found out that she goes into chatrooms and uses shorthand like LOL and ROTFLMAO. Therefore, I broke off our engagement and changed the locks to my apartment.

Back in MY day, we used those abbreviations on the TELEX machine. Those of us who actually used TELEX machines. We were a special bunch.

Not that anyone actually cares. I know I don't. But I think it's funny when people try to pass that sort of stuff off as something new.

Whats a TELEX machine?

A TELEX sort of a combination email/fax sort of thing. It was used by hotels and airlines to transmit reservation information. It looked like an electric typwriter with a dialphone fused onto the side of it. Since you paid by the character (or something like that - it's been a while) people abbreviated stuff all the time.

I was being funny. =(