I was listening to the Dennis Prager show today (hat tip to B.J.), and there was an interesting discussion regarding voting.

As you may or may not know, there’s a ballot proposition in Arizona that, if passed, would offer $1 million to a lucky Arizonan in each and every election. The idea is to increase voter turnout. It’s kind of like a lottery, except you don’t have to buy a ticket; you just have to vote. This is almost universally assailed as a terrible idea, yet some are saying the proposition is likely to pass.

Most things I’ve read regarding this issue focus in on the fact that we need more informed voters rather than more voters in general, and that citizenship in a free society is its own reward. All true. But there’s a more fundamental flaw in this “solution.”

It doesn’t solve the real issue. The reason most people give for not voting is that they believe their votes don’t matter — that the outcome is predetermined. There are a number of factors that support this thinking: gerrymandering, a two-party system that systematically excludes third-party candidates from public debates, campaign financing inequities, etc. These are things that need to be addressed — not merely voter turnout.