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PHOENIX - An Arizona political activist is placing his bets that a proposal to pay one lucky voter $1 million will drive people to the polls.

Dr. Mark Osterloh, a Tuscon ophthalmologist who has run unsuccessfully for governor and the legislature, filed paperwork Monday to put the idea before state voters on the 2006 ballot.

"Who do you know that doesn't want to be a millionaire? What's the worst thing that could happen? Everybody who's eligible to vote could be voting," he said.

...

"We want to make sure that we get everybody voting so we get truly representative government," he said. "If people don't vote, they don't get represented."

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I don't think the type of people who would only vote because of a lottery would be the type of people I'd want deciding things.

Depends on the place. Where I vote, you fill in circles similar to a scantron sheet.

Michigan Republicans want local prosecutors to throw the book at Michael Moore, after the Fahrenheit 9/11 director doled out ramen and underwear to college students. The gifts were given in exchange for the students' promises to vote—not necessarily for John Kerry—in November. Is it illegal to bribe someone to vote, even if the person doing the bribing doesn't tell the bribee which candidate to choose?

Regardless of the briber's intentions, paying for turnout is illegal in federal elections. As long as there is a federal candidate on the ballot, no one may offer something of value—whether it's a $100 bill or a package of Top Ramen—to get someone to the polls. The ban was part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which included a section specifically forbidding anyone from offering or accepting payment "either for registration to vote or for voting." This has been interpreted to cover all bribes geared toward coaxing voters to their respective polling stations.

What's funny to me is that many people who admit they don't vote say they don't because "one vote can't make a difference anyway." Yet they're more likely to buy a lottery ticket? Interesting thought process.

let's take the $1 million and use it to pay bounty hunters to track down and beat the crap out of random nonvoters.....televised live.