Horse !  Senators and Representatives are bribed and politically influenced, every day, for their vote, whether they admit it or not.  This proposal has nothing to do with corrupting the voting process, and everything to do with exciting the electorate to get out and exercise their right to vote.

 A candidate with enough money can spend millions of his own money to promote and publicize themselves, and buy the election. The only people who make money, and a mockery of the process, are our elected representatives.

True, voting in and of itself should be and is a privilige, but anyone who thinks they can put the genie back in the bottle, and go back to the days, where money didn't matter, is dreaming.

I guess I disagree with Mrs. Tatum. I don't think the whole "lottery" idea is a completely bad idea. If it gets more people voting I think it's a good idea. This would probably bring more people to the voting booths. People complain that people aren't exercising their right to vote, but put ideas out there and people get upset.

But what if the giveaway is restricted to those 21 and older? You only have to be 18 to vote, but all gambling within Arizona is only for those at least 21.

I say let the people who aren't responsible enough to vote stay home. I shudder to think about uninformed people voting.

[quote] 

In the Sumner County primary election in May a dismal 7,234 persons out of 84,526 registered voters cast ballots. That is less than 10 percent of registered voters exercising this most basic right.

[quote]

that says it all really, only modifcation i would add is 10 prizes of $100k  ea.

its such a great ide i intend to vote 10 times :P 

To paraphrase Forrest Gump: "Voting is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get."  Arizona's proposal is only formalizing the gamble we take every time we enter the voting booth.  Lord knows all of us have voted for losers over the years.  Kinky Friedman for Governor!  Why the Hell Not!!

Orangeman                                               

Personally I think if they are going to have a voting lottery it should be a lottery winner as the winner of the election. Canadates would have to pass a minimum IQ, ethics and criminal background check.  I couldn't imagine we would get worse canadates then what some districts crank out each year.

the government is turning into a joke.period.

"But what if the giveaway is restricted to those 21 and older? You only have to be 18 to vote, but all gambling within Arizona is only for those at least 21."

It's not proposed as a game, it's a giveaway.  For it to be gambling, you would have to pay to play, that is not the case here. 

Good point.

My idea would be to go ahead and have this Lottery feature, but the only votes that would get to be in the Lottery drawing would be whoever voted for the 2nd place LOSING candidate. OK it would also have made it harder for Corzine to win the last election, so wouldn't we all be better off? We're all losers here right now.

When the candidates start representing their constituents rather than their political party you'll see less apathy. But since from the Democratic and Republican parties is where their money comes from I don't look to this happening any time in the near future.

This is only a test. Sorry. I need to see if I can post using the new format.