09 May 2017

Would cash prizes make you more likely to vote?


As the UK heads towards its third big national vote in three years, there are fears that people won't bother turning out - with apathy particularly strong among the young.

It's a problem across Western democracies. In last week's French presidential race, turn-out fell, and in the US last year, only slightly more than half of people eligible to vote cast a ballot for a presidential candidate. In Britain, turn-out has hovered at around 65% for the last two general elections, way down on figures from the previous century.

To combat the problem, several US cities are experimenting with a controversial idea: offering cash prizes to the electorate, in a bid to lure them out to vote. In these schemes, people casting votes are added to a lottery, with big money prizes for a lucky few.

Honestly? Just last century, women fought, suffered & died to get the vote, and we seriously can't be bothered? 


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