Use free-market principles to boost voter turnout

How do we get more Utahns to vote, more Utahns to run for public office and generally become involved in their state government?

A number of people are asking these questions after Utah suffered low voter turnout in 2008, when many states saw record turnout.

I have a three-pronged answer to the problem (proposed with only slight tongue in cheek).

And, while a bit radical, my solution hinges on something many Utahns love: the free-market system.

Want better government and citizen participation? We should:

Improve the product, create competition (better candidates and more of them).

Improve access to and ease of acquiring the product (make it easier to register and easier to vote).

Motivate people to buy or use the product (get more people to vote).

I've said any number of times that Utah legislators should stay part time but should get hefty pay raises. The 104 part-time lawmakers now bring in around $15,000 a year, when you add in their per diem, hotel allowance (which most of them put in their pockets because they commute from home) and mileage, as well as their regular pay.

I say we bite the bullet and double their compensation to $30,000.

Greater pay, hopefully, should make it easier for current legislators to serve and attract more candidates to run.

To improve access to the product, we make it easier to vote.

Utah has made some strides here with early voting — which appears to be well-liked. But the state took a huge step backward this year by requiring some kind of picture I.D. at the polling place.

We should move quickly to Internet voting and voter registration at the polling place.

We should require that employers give employees time off to vote, as long as employees provide proof that they did indeed vote.

To motivate people to vote, I have a simple, elegant solution: Pay them.

In a capitalistic society, this is what we do — compensate people for their labor.

You don't have to pay voters a lot — say $5 or $10.