Hey, Jacob here. Just over a year ago Why Tuesday? asked you to ask elected officials on video camera “why do we vote on Tuesday?” for a cash prize. Check out WT? on YouTube to see how many elected officials *didn’t* have a clue. That contenst was how I got involved with WT? — and I’m still involved today, prepping for the launch of our new site this fall.

Recently the election reform group and friend of WT? FairVote launched an election reform video-for-cash contest of their own, and they even throw in a trip to Washington for the winner! The contest is called Upgrade Democracy, and here’s the prompt from them, complete with a video!

“If you could change anything you wanted about elections, what would our democracy look like?”

You could win $2000 and have your video seen by celebrity judges like filmmaker Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Dazed and Confused), political guru Donna Brazile,The Daily Show’s Dan Bakkedahl, and former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic!

For ideas, see FairVote’s reform proposals — a national popular vote for president, instant runoff voting for executive offices, proportional voting for legislatures, universal voter registration and a constitutional right to vote — but let your intellect and imagination run wild.

A cool contest, and a cool group. Learn more at upgradedemocracy.com. Some video responses to FairVote’s contest are after the jump.

Added: August 15, 2007
From YouTuber: etnader

Added: August 23, 2007
From YouTuber: maxqt