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PHOENIX — There's going to be a new reason for Arizonans to go to the polls this year: They could win $1 million.

The Secretary of State's Office certified Thursday that backers of the voter lottery plan had submitted more than enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

But the measure is worded in a way to actually encourage people to vote both in the primary this September as well as two months later when the actual initiative will be on the ballot. If it is approved in November, it will be retroactive: One lucky person who voted in this year's primary and another who cast a ballot in the general election each will get $1 million.

In fact, it's even set up so that there could be multiple winners. Mark Osterloh, who came up with the plan, said businesses are free to make donations of cash, or maybe even a new car, to encourage turnout.

Osterloh said he believes that providing a carrot for would-be voters would increase participation in the democratic process. The Tucson physician dismissed concerns that the kind of people who would vote solely for a chance to win the lottery are likely to be ill-informed about the candidates and the issues.

"Once they decide they're going to vote, they will study the issues and candidates," he said. "And they will vote in their own enlightened self-interest."

Not everyone is convinced that will occur.

Attorney General Terry Goddard said there's an expectation that those who vote now at least review the issues, even if it's just the day before they vote.

"The implication, at least, of a lottery contestant is they would not study at all," he said. "That troubles me."

The idea also bothered elected officials in some counties who are in charge of registering voters and, by extension, encouraging participation.

"We're in this great country of ours, and now we have to give incentives to get people to vote?" asked Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez. "I think people need to reflect on what kind of society we are becoming."

Turnout in the 2004 general election was slightly more than 2 million, about 77 percent of those registered.

But that tells only part of the story. The latest voter figures show 2,624,559 people registered to vote in Arizona; the U.S. Census Bureau puts the total number of adults in the state at more than 4.3 million.

Coconino County Recorder Candace Owens questioned whether the slim chance of winning would make a difference.

But she said that may depend on whether the would-be voter is a gambler.

"I guess your odds are better than winning the (state) lottery," she said.

Osterloh said the concept of rewards is not so odd. He said it actually comes from the Bible — that if you do the right thing, you get into heaven.

"If incentives are good enough for God, they're good enough for Arizona," he said.

Osterloh said he'd be willing to look at the punishment side of the equation — don't act properly and wind up somewhere unpleasant. That actually is the system in Australia, where citizens can be fined $20 or more for failing to vote, a system that has resulted in a 95 percent turnout.

But that isn't an option here, Osterloh said, because of U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

"It's an issue of free speech," he said.

Money for the voter reward would come from the Arizona Lottery's unclaimed-prize fund.