Non-Profit to Conduct Election Day Lottery for Philadelphia Voters

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) We're just one week away from Philadelphia's general election and this year one resident's ballot will essentially be worth $10,000. It's all part of a non-profit's plan to get more people to the polls on Tuesday. So what do you think about rewarding voters with cash prizes?

FOX's 29 Weekend's Bill Anderson breaks down the buzz surrounding this election lottery.

It seems like every election we talk about the embarrassingly low voter turnout, so this time a group called Philadelphia Citizen decided they wanted to inspire Philadelphians to vote and they hope $10,000 may just do it. The group announced last week that they'll give $10,000 to a randomly selected voter.

The initial announcement caused a buzz and that was exactly what the group wanted, but now a week later they want us to know it was more than that.

The money is to highlight a much deeper problem.

"26% of registered voters in mayoral primary that's unacceptable. So we can to jump start the re-ignition of democracy in the city in which it was born," said Co-Founder of Philadelphia Citizen Larry Platt.

As the public becomes aware of the lottery, there was an interesting mix of reactions. Some applauded the creativity while others frankly thought it was ridiculous.

Philadelphia Citizen made it clear that the money is just one tool in their fight to get the Philly voter motivated.