Votergasm.org Gives People Added Incentive to Cast Votes

What can we do to get the younger generations of America to get up and vote? This is a question that has stumped the ages, though some citizens have found a curious way to solve this dilemma. Started in 2004 due to the low projected turnout of young voters, the site votergasm.org was created, with the stated objective of getting people to get out and vote. The incentive, however, is what makes it so unique.

Based on the idea of taking a pledge for votergasm, voters are told to go vote, and then partake in a sexually themed post-voting party. The Web site comes with a pledge, which has three levels of dedication to the cause of votergasm. The first level, known as citizen, includes a promise to withhold sex from a voter for the week following an election. The second level, citizen, promises to have sex with a voter on election night, but withhold it from a non-voter for a week. The final level, American hero, promises that there will be no sex with non-voters for four years, in addition to having sex with a voter on the night of an election.

The Web site, which initially launched during the Bush-Kerry presidential race of 2004, remains active and still accepts pledges on their behalf.

The movement is not entirely obscure as it was even picked up by Rush Limbaugh, whom the press section of the website states, "Championed the cause."

Amusingly, the wildly successful radio talk show host also appeared to have a change of heart about the program, initially attacking it as "voter prostitution" and calling on the people to attack it with a denial of service. However, he later claimed that this was simply an attempt to generate traffic to the site, which apparently paid off handsomely.

In addition to instructions and a pledge, the site also comes armed with a relatively graphic display of "how to carry out your votergasm in 10 easy steps", which details the recommended path to achieving all levels of satisfaction for fulfilling your civic duty.

The site remains strictly bi-partisan, refusing to show support for either side. Indeed, to carry on its message, it offers out shirts that state, "Democrat: Get Screwed" and "Republican: Get Screwed," in an attempt to maintain the over all sexual theme of the movement.

The "mailbag" or feedback section of the site shows a mixed response to the website. Some commentators outright decry and attack, usually in a slew of vulgarities, the attempted intertwining of sex and voting, whereas others applaud the idea.

There are no immediate signs that the site will remained "updated" for the 2008 presidential election, but the mailbag section of the site demonstrates a genuine hope that there will be.

Sources:

www.votergasm.org