Motivote

Voting

Courtesy Motivote

Co-founder Jess Riegel (right) leads a demonstration of Motivote near Pittsburgh, where it was tested in a special election in 2018.

Here's a business plan: Wooing millennials to the polls with prizes, not guilt

Traditionally, voter registration and turnout drives go right for the moral argument.

Registering to vote and going to the polls is your obligation in a democracy, the organizers plead. People have died to make it possible for us to vote. And, of course, every vote counts so yours could decide the election.

Noble thoughts, all, but the relatively poor turnout through the years — including just north of 30 percent of voters ages 18 to 29 in last year's hard-fought midterm — argues for a different approach. Maybe one as truly American, if in a totally different way, as the appeals to duty and civic pride.

Think teams. And competition. And, best of all, prizes.

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