This is So Stupid
Arizona politicians think giving a random voter a million dollars in an effort to boost voter turnout is a good idea. This is completely wrongheaded. As the author of the above link writes:

Mr. Osterloh [proponent of the plan] thinks these odds could be the key to get people more involved in politics. But this presumes first that voters who are so devoid of civic-mindedness that they need to be bribed in order to vote are worth attracting. It also presumes that government -- not activists or politicians -- should do the attracting. But this can only cheapen the electoral process. "Basically our government is elected by a small minority of citizens," offers Mr. Osterloh.

That minority consists of people who care enough about the country's future to give up an hour or two to go vote. It's not much to ask. Why should government contort itself for people who think voting is not worth two hours of their time?

Actually, there have been studies that requiring people to vote--as in Switzerland--results in much noisier results than are good for public policy.
- posted by Base10 @ 12:26 AM