In New York we’re very familiar with the catchphrase of "a dollar and a dream." Across the nation, in Arizona, there’s a very good chance that their catchphrase may one day be "a lever and a dream."

During this November’s elections the voters in Arizona will be voting for or against Proposition 200, otherwise known as the Arizona Voter Reward Act. If this initiative were to pass, every election year one lucky winner would be randomly selected from all Arizonians who voted in either the general election or primary election or both (which would count as a double entry). The individual would receive a $1,000,000 reward, funded entirely by unclaimed awards from the state’s lottery system.

What average voter – or consistent non-voter- wouldn’t vote for such a measure? It would behoove them to do so. Compared to the odds associated with the Powerball lottery (146 million to one) the odds of winning are considerably more in the favor of an Arizona voter (2.1 million to one). Cash could fall to one lucky person just by freely pulling a voting machine’s lever, not investing $1 or $5 as is typical to a standard lottery.

There is an underlying reason for this bill: Registered voters as a whole tend not to participate. In Arizona’s case it ranks 40^th in terms of turnout. Comparably, we here in New York are not any better showing up at 33^rd, as the general elections typically bring out only half of registered voters. Worse yet, this September’s NY primaries yielded a pitiful 6% of republicans and 13% of democrats. Supposedly, giving money to the disenchanted would correct this problem.

Although the Voter Reward Act may have been well-intentioned in design as a means by which to increase voter turnout the desired end result is actually the worst problem associated with this concept. Sure, it would bring more people to the polls, but the most atrocious voters of all would come out of the woodwork to support this bill and then abuse it in subsequent elections. Those who have a track record of not participating in public affairs, those who could care less about voting under normal circumstances, and those who have no inkling of the issues or the people would sadly become the normal voter, rather than the exception to the rule.

As it stands now, people who vote do so for a reason. They tire of taxes. They want certain benefits. They want certain people to represent them in the Capitol. They feel obligated to their roles as citizens of this great nation.

Were this bill to pass, these stand-up citizens would still be there, but their numbers could be drowned out by people who would vote just to vote for money’s sake. The new breed of voters this bill would unleash would vote not to an obligation to society but to an obligation to their own pocketbook. They would not be voting with heart or mind.

These unsavory and uneducated voters would probably vote indiscriminately, too, creating a corrupted and incorrect system. Many would randomly grasp levers or push buttons to fulfill the task, caring not who the candidate is. Whose to say they all would not "vote" for the candidate fortunate enough to have his name at the top of the ballot? First in line, first checked off.

It can be assumed that if this proposition passes - and there’s a very good chance it will – its mentality will spread like wildfire throughout the rest of the United States. Quickly following in Arizona’s footsteps will most definitely be the states of California and New York. Not only would the progressive nature of Albany’s or Sacramento’s governments welcome such a measure, but the socialist mentality of a good many of those states’ citizens would demand such a giveaway.

Granted, in most states there is substantial room for improvement of voter turnout that could facilitate the use of creative measures in bringing the voters to the polls. But, offering them money to vote is the worst moral path our nation could take. It would cheapen and trivialize the process that a great many men had died for.

I, for one, appreciate our right to vote and our ability to make our voices heard in our political system. I would like to know that the person in the poll line with me is there for the same reason I am…America and everything it stands for…and not there for his own filthy, disgusting greed.