£1,000 prize just for voting: Labour may tempt electors with a plasma TV

 

By Steve Doughty

Last updated at 12:47 AM on 02nd August 2008

 

• Comments (0)
  
• Add to My Stories
  

Hazel Blears: Outlined the plans yesterday

 

Voters who go to the polls in local elections could win prizes worth £1,000, it was revealed yesterday.

 

Such an incentive would be much bigger than anything suggested so far under the 'votes-mean-prizes' scheme being considered by Justice Secretary Jack Straw.

 

Whitehall officials had previously hinted the prizes would be relatively modest, such as free entry to council-run gyms and swimming pools.

 

The new prize, which would be awarded to the winner of a draw open only to those who voted, could take the form of a large plasma television.

 

Other possibilities include an annual subscription to a plush private gym.

 

Alternatively, ministers could follow the example of incentive-voting trials carried out in California.

 

There, a free doughnut is handed out to the first 8,000 voters to arrive at the polling

station.

 

The votes-mean-prizes plan was unveiled last month by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears in a White Paper on increasing participation in local democracy.

 

It put forward the idea of incentives to increase turnouts in local elections.

 

In this year's polls in May, only 35 per cent of the electorate voted.

 

The amount of money on offer to winning voters was disclosed by Communities Minister Parmjit Dhanda in a written answer to MPs.

 

 

A plasma television screen similar to this one may be offered as a prize to tempt people to vote

He said: 'An estimate of the costs of voting incentives was calculated on the assumption that £1,000 would be spent per authority, per election, with the incentive taking the form of a small reward, such as the opportunity to take part in a prize draw.

 

'The Ministry of Justice lead on voting incentives and are currently considering these proposals.'

 

The Tories, however, have been scathing about the idea.

 

They have accused ministers of using public money to try to draw their own supporters to the polls.

 

Conservative local government spokesman Eric Pickles said: 'Who would have thought that the long and hard-fought quest for universal suffrage would end with the ignominy of a trip to the doughnut shop?

 

'People vote at elections in response to leadership, vision and ideas.

 

'This Labour government has stripped powers from local authorities and handed it to unelected quangos. That is why people don't see their vote as important.

 

'It is time the Government treated the electorate with the honesty and respect it deserves.'

 

Voters who did go to the polls would stand a high chance of winning a £1,000 prize.

 

Although an average local authority has 100,000 names on its electoral roll, many hold elections each year, with a third of their council seats up for grabs on each occasion.

 

That means that there are fewer than 12,000 voters in a typical council election.

 

Mrs Blears has also outlined plans for cashback schemes in which councils compensate residents who receive inadequate services.

 

Furthermore, she wants to see more residents standing for election as councillors.

 

To encourage this, she hopes to sweep away rules brought in during the 1980s to prevent abuses developed by the Militant Tendency, under which one far-Left council would give well-paid jobs to the political leaders of another.

The idea is to address the inequality:

 

Effort to vote > Probability of vote making a difference

 

And reverse it:

 

Effort to vote < Probability of vote making a difference + Probability of winning a prize

 

I'm not convinced.

 

BTW, the topic title is misleading. Do not confuse an "incentive to vote" with an "incentive to vote for me".

The idea is to address the inequality:

 

Effort to vote > Probability of vote making a difference

 

And reverse it:

 

Effort to vote < Probability of vote making a difference + Probability of winning a prize

 

I'm not convinced.

 

BTW, the topic title is misleading. Do not confuse an "incentive to vote" with an "incentive to vote for me".

 

No confusion. Just journalistic licence, because it sounds good!!:smug:

I would have voted in the last round of local council elections, but I couldn't because the number of people putting their name forward to sit on the council in this area was less than the number of seats in this area (I think 3 people put their name forward for 4 seats), therefore no election was needed :(

I would have voted in the last round of local council elections, but I couldn't because the number of people putting their name forward to sit on the council in this area was less than the number of seats in this area (I think 3 people put their name forward for 4 seats), therefore no election was needed :(

 

In that case you probably missed an opportunity to get into politics!!:rolleyes:

Being a plain councillor for test valley BC doesn't really pay that much until you get up high.

Being a plain councillor for test valley BC doesn't really pay that much until you get up high.

 

Well you have to start somewhere!!:rolleyes:

:stunned: that is true?...

 

politics are each day worst :\ a plasma tv for voting a party, bad bad.

Ari, I think it was a prize of a plasma TV if you voted in the local elections (to try and get turnout figures higher)

The stupid thing is that all the chavs this is aimed at would be too busy watching soaps on TV to vote anyway............................... :rolleyes:

They'd have far more success if they let people vote from their armchairs during EastEnders or Corrie.;)

The stupid thing is that all the chavs this is aimed at would be too busy watching soaps on TV to vote anyway............................... :rolleyes:

They'd have far more success if they let people vote from their armchairs during EastEnders or Corrie.;)

 

nooooo. its no incentive because they already have a plasma tv

This is a joke isn't it?

 

Wow, come on jake, hurry up and be 18, then I can get my own free doughnut... :rolleyes:

This is a joke isn't it?

 

Wow, come on jake, hurry up and be 18, then I can get my own free doughnut... :rolleyes:

 

Well in Cornwall, wouldn't it be better to offer a pasty??:rolleyes:

The only way they will increase the turnout is to force everybody to vote

 

*cue evil laugh*

I never understood all the programs and billboards trying to get more people to vote. IMO too many people vote. You should only vote if you have an intelligent understanding of the candidates and what the stand for. If your neighbor is a low-life idiot who bases his/her vote on stupid reasons (even if it's for the candidate you support), urge them to stay home on election day. Or...if you haven't been paying attention and honestly no nothing about either candidate, don't vote.