New Ploys Devised to Boost Voter Turnout.

Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org:

Political scientists expect voter turnout to be up nationally in this November’s mid-term elections, despite lackluster participation in most primaries. Amid the anticipated upswing, Arizona and Michigan voters are being targeted with new tactics to get them to cast ballots.

Arizona will decide whether to make people who show up at the polls eligible for a $1 million jackpot. In Michigan, 80,000 people who’ve voted only sporadically were put on notice by a political consultant that, if they didn’t vote this year, they’d be outed as slackers to their friends and neighbors.

The two efforts use different tacks to make voters feel like they have something personal at stake in voting, no matter which candidates they support.

Mark Osterloh, a politically active Arizona doctor, wants his state to use unclaimed lottery proceeds to reward one lucky voter $1 million for casting a ballot. He’s managed to get the issue on the November ballot, with the proviso that the measure would take effect in this election.

“I bet you even homeless people that are citizens would register to vote, so I think we could get about 95 percent (turnout) ultimately,” Osterloh predicted.

If Arizona voters approve, Osterloh plans to push for similar measures in 22 other states that let citizens offer ballot initiatives.