Desperate Measures

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MORE FUN THAN EXIT POLLS Less than a fourth of Alabama's 2.2 million registered voters showed up at the polls for last week's presidential primaries. New Mexico boasted a less than 30% turnout. As we yawn our way to the November election, it might pay to look at how some other countries are attempting to battle voter ennui:

--Russians who vote this week in the port city of Vladivostok--where more than 20 local elections have been invalidated recently, many of them on account of turnout less than the legal minimum--will receive lottery tickets for cars, TVs, VCRs, refrigerators, washing machines and baskets of food.

--British Parliament members are considering compulsory voting, with a 5[pound] fine against citizens who fail to return a ballot.

--In Mexico, where the majority of registered voters are women, supporters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party geared up for next month's presidential election by staging an outdoor performance featuring male strippers sporting G-strings and boxer shorts emblazoned with the slogan "Vote for P.R.I."