A long and winding road United States
Member #17,083
June 10, 2005
6,680 Posts
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Bottom Line: Seeing is beleiving. Let the person have two heads and breath fire for all I care. Just allow the public the right to such knowledge and not conceal the winner
Kentucky United States
Member #32,651
February 14, 2006
10,302 Posts
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Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on Aug 28, 2009
"i love how KY changed the point to, RNG lottos"
I love how you fail to understand that the point is public trust in the honesty of the lottery. If you believe that the public doesn't trust the lottery over RNG's, why is it hard to accept that they may not trust them over unknown winners?
As far as blind trusts providing anonymity, that only works if the lottery will award the prize to a blind trust without knowing who the beneficiary is. Since blind trusts are legal entitites I'd think that the lotteries should have to accept them as the legal owner of a ticket, just as any other legal entity, such as a corporation, can own property, including lottery tickets. Unfortunately, the information I've seen is that some states will only award the prizes when they have the name of an individual (or individuals) who are considered the winner of record.
There is also the agent that sold the ticket and most stores have posters and signs "$5000 pick-4 ticket was sold here", "10,000 tic tac dough" or even "$500 bingo". The retailers know what time the ticket was sold and after checking the surveillance tape, probably know exactly who the winner is, especially if they are a regular customer. The store owners want free publicity and while the winner is taking their time talking to lawyers, the store owner is talking to "news channel 7" maybe suggesting the player doesn't realize they hold the winning ticket.
I can see it now, the player walks out of the lawyers office holding the blind trust papers and 10 TV reporters are asking them why they haven't cashed their ticket yet; so much for anonymity.
The lotteries are state agencies and in some states, the rules and regulations require them to report the names of the winner to other state agencies. They don't have to hold a press conference or even have their picture taken, but many people will know who they are. It's also public record and as Floyd said, how long will players trust the lotteries when all the jackpot winners are named John Doe?