Two Beers and a Voting Form Please

There have been some inspired projects in history: junior sword-swallowing kits and amateur bear wrestling to name but a single pair. However, not many can come close to the city of Bremen's idea of allowing polling booths to be set up in bars.

With a local election on the horizon, the city's authorities are hoping to increase voter numbers by making the possibility of casting votes ever easier.

After recognizing the similarities between pulling a draught beer and pulling an election lever they're considering bringing polling booths to the places errant citizens tend to hide to escape the drudgery of politics -- the local drinking hole.

Imagine the scene: a citizen of Bremen has adjourned to a local hostelry to escape the incessant loudspeakers in the streets, grotesque party placards of grinning candidates and reams of wasteful propaganda forced upon him as he attempts to keep democracy from infringing on his drinking time.

Drinkers to become politicians' prey

Up pops Candidate A by the citizen's side in the bar. "Why the long face?" says Candidate A. "I hate elections," says the citizen. "Tell me about it," says Candidate A and motions to the barkeeper to refresh the citizen's drink.

A sorry tale of dashed hopes, a country going to the dogs and several beers later and Candidate A is suddenly the citizen's best friend. "Let's teach those politicians a lesson," says Candidate A and leads the citizen to the polling booth in the corner by the jukebox. You can guess what happens next.

While voting for the candidate that buys you the most beer may be one of the consequences, others clearly include the fact that rational decisions are rarely made under the influence of alcohol and the fact that politicians may start hanging out in bars more often than they already do, leading to the question: Who's running the country? Either no one or a bunch of drunks.

Christian Weber of the Bremen Social Democratic Party told Monday's Süddeutsche Zeitung that elections needed an image makeover.

"We want to give elections more of an event feel," he said as he revealed that the city was also considering putting polling booths in petrol stations and shopping areas. Presumably drivers getting away from it all will be targeted as they refuel and mother's wrestling with screaming toddlers will vote for whoever just to get on with the chore at hand.

Such an idea is certainly well worth a "Democracy in Action" award.