According to Governing, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission recently voted to recommend that the City Council consider offering cash prizes (using a lottery system) to boost voter turnout at municipal elections. Voter turnout at municipal elections is notoriously low across the country and Los Angeles is no exception where it is commonly falls below 20 or 25%. But the commission’s vote came on the heels of a special school board election in which fewer than 10% of registered voters came out to vote.
Prior to the Ethics Commission’s recommendation, city political leaders had been looking at ways to increase turnout and considered, among other things, holding municipal elections in even-numbered years with state and federal elections, which consistently draw out more voters. Noting that a transition to such a system could take several years to implement, the commission suggested a lottery system—starting with a pilot program. Federal law prohibits people from accepting payment in exchange for voting, but according to the Los Angeles ethics commissioner, that statute would not apply in an election where there are no federal positions on the ballot.
