Voting records were open very early but employers fired people for how they voted. A belief in voting is a mistake. A professor once pointed out that when ancient cultures needed to settle decisions among equals, they drew lots. We still do for the ultimate power of the state -- jury duty. If Joe Sixpack can sit on a jury, he should have an equal chance at sitting in congress. Oh, there might be retards and scoundrels. Do you think that's not the case now? The difference would be that no one particularly wanted the job. They might defer to people who knew what they were doing. And lobbyists would have a hell of a time figuring out who was good and bought -- and even those relationships would be unlikely to last long.