Pemise: Political rhetoric and engagement is largely based around drumming up GOTV efforts. This leads to increasing efforts by both parties to generate fear and anger to motivate people to vote. This creates a political environment that divides people and also allows for emotional manipulation that bonds people out of trama.

By incentivizing voting through economic means political rhetoric will no longer be focused on getting people to get to the polls but on getting people to actually pull the lever. The idea being that the optimization will no longer be fear / anger based.

For the sake of discussion assume the economic incentive is either $500 or a reduction in taxable income by $5k. Also assume someone doesnt need to vote for any candidate they just need to go and vote. This would also enforce that voting is tied to a SSN and be a form of proof. So voter fraud would be harder.

But I want my Obama phone and welfare card.

Voting should be gated by demonstrated civic virtue. For example, serving on a jury or some other thing that shows you have the capacity to consider the good of the whole over your own self interest - even in a small way.

This proposal would seem to do precisely the opposite, by pulling voters based on their self interest.

1. Vote in person, with ID. No mail in votes.
2. You show up, you get $20
3. You don't, fine.

Would fix alot of issues.

Give every voter a lottery ticket after they vote.

I'm not even reading the OP

ABSOLUTENLY NOT!!!

As much as you think you dislike low-information voters, they don't hold a candle to the low-information non-voters.

If you aren't arsed enough by the future of the country to vote for voting's sake I don't want you in the booth.

It was. The dems let them come across the border...

There is a reason universal suffrage took 144 years to be fully implemented. For 94 years, MOST people could not vote. Then women were allowed to vote in 1920.

Incentivising voting... NO.
National Election day off... Sure...

Shut the whole country down. Every last person in the country is off(election workers/VITAL workers given time off to vote). ONLY votes cast on election day are counted. Go vote if you are so inclined. No early voting, no absentee voting unless military overseas, or employee of some business overseas with verifiable identification/documentation, AND received on or before election DAY.

Horrifically terrible idea.

If anything, we need to be restricting it. A few ideas we've thrown out a thousand times on here....limit it to:

- Landowners
- Federal income tax payers (or if you've achieved some lifetime qualifier along the way while you were working)
- Military
- if foreign born you have to be a US citizen for at least X years before you get to vote regardless of first two above - might make exception if you serve in military
- Minimum age of 25
- No mail in voting except for military; all in-person

Actually, the only people who should be allowed to vote are those who are LEGAL CITIZENS of the United States of America AND a net tax payer INTO the system.

Free loaders should not get to vote for themselves to continue being free loaders.
Non-US citizens should not be voting (looking at you California, Washington, Oregon, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc essentially EVERY LIBERAL RUN VOTING PRECINCT).

I'm so done with the fraud, corruption, and literal FU from the left as to the laws and Constitution of this country I've just about had it.

Sick of it all.

Zobel said:

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Voting should be gated by demonstrated civic virtue. For example, serving on a jury or some other thing that shows you have the capacity to consider the good of the whole over your own self interest - even in a small way.

This proposal would seem to do precisely the opposite, by pulling voters based on their self interest.

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'.....you have the capacity to consider the good of the whole over your own self interest'

Misogynistic;
Racist;
UNfair to the UNinformed....

How about we pay people not to vote. You walk up to the polling place and there is an ATM machine that gives you a random amount of money not to vote based on your voting history. The more you have voted, the lower the amount goes. The lower number of times you have voted the higher the amount goes. Also, the figure is based on your states debt. The higher the state debt, the more people get paid to not vote in federal elections.

Ginormus Ag said:

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How about we pay people not to vote. You walk up to the polling place and there is an ATM machine that gives you a random amount of money not to vote based on your voting history. The more you have voted, the lower the amount goes. The lower number of times you have voted the higher the amount goes. Also, the figure is based on your states debt. The higher the state debt, the more people get paid to not vote in federal elections.

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Ha! I could get on board with this.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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Quote:

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By incentivizing voting through economic means political rhetoric will no longer be focused on getting people to get to the polls but on getting people to actually pull the lever. The idea being that the optimization will no longer be fear / anger based.

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Good idea. Land owners only.

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These days, I'd be fine with tax payers only.

If you didnt pay taxes, you don't vote that cycle. If you accept any government subsidy, you give up your right to vote that cycle.

The takers should not be voting on policy for the producers.

Our forefathers tried to set it up with prudence. We've reversed that and reward those who don't contribute to our country.

I don't think people should be paid to vote, but I do think election day should be a national holiday and people should get time off work so that they can easily vote if they wish.

hell no. we have far too many ignorant and stupid people voting already

My vote can be bought and paid for by beer.

Half the people will be voting for an increasingly communist party. You want to pay people to vote for communists?

TexAgs91 said:

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Half the people will be voting for an increasingly communist party. You want to pay people to vote for communists?

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Id say the current system favors communists. It favors anyone voting to give themselves an advantage. Why do school bonds almost always pass? Because the winner has $$$ incentive to win while the lower has a small and incrementally hard to discern reason to win. So the bigger incentive side wins because the one side that is more motivated shows up. It is an issue of getting out the vote not the policy itself.

But im wandering if more people came to vote would that change the calculus. Would it be harder for bonds to pass. Would it be harder for political movements based on giving free stuff (phones, Healthcare etc) to have a GOTV advantage if both sides were already going to show up.

Do we elect better politicians / better laws by making it a contest of motivation to vote or by making a contest of who or what is voted for.

A great example of this are "off cycle" elections. Which have very low turnout, generally benefit some special group, and almost always pass. The key to get the outcome of more spending is to change from voting on the issue to change it to caring enough to go vote!

We need fewer dumbasses voting, not more.

Tramp96 said:

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NO! None of any kind.

If you are not incentivized enough to vote, then you aren't an informed voter to begin with, and your vote is more damaging than good.

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AGC said:

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Yes. Voting should be limited to those who pay income taxes. That's enough incentive, right?

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I hear this idea a lot and have no idea how you would do it. Does everyone bring in their tax returns each election cycle or would there be a new Department of Election eligibility that would keep track of every American. Does your vote count less if you are from a state that is a net recipient of tax dollars? If you retire and convert everything to Roth accounts you can't vote the rest of your life?

No, we should raise the voting age to 25 and ban mail in voting altogether (with exceptions for military and elderly).

There should be some "effort" involved in voting. Liberals woudl like to make it where you can just push a button on your phone. It should be in person, and you should be registered and have to produce ID, at a minimum.

If anything, it should be a federal holiday and that's it.

There are people out there that cannot afford not to take off of work to vote. 59% of Americans cannot afford a $1,000 emergency, so there is a large chunk of Americans that cannot take the day off to work. It would be the right call if the nation lowered the tax rate on business owners with the tradeoff that they would provide a paid day off so their employees can vote.

with $40 trillion in debt, I hate the idea of lost revenue, but the reality is that this government has a spending problem and if we don't vote ourselves out of it, well, kiss your dollar value, social security payments, 401K's etc. goodbye.

Considering people rarely vote in things that impact them directly (city, county, state), I can't see how paying them $ to vote in federal/national elections will result in a meaningful change.

Recently, I've just found a liberal friend who would have cancelled out my Republican vote and we've agreed skip voting and to have a couple beers instead. Way better a use of time and no impact to the election.

I vote anyway but I'll take a cheeseburger and fries. A chocolate shake as a sweetener would be even better.

Too many people vote already.

Anyone who doesn't pay taxes should be ineligible.