Planet Money · Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Out of over 200,000 invitation letters and 1,500 responses, organizers in Connecticut used a Powerball machine lottery to randomly select 100 residents for a citizens assembly. Each participant is slated to receive $1,200 for their time.
“They fired up the same machine that they use for the Powerball drawings. Use these same little yellow balls. And that is how they picked the 100 people who would serve in this assembly.”
“And for all their troubles, they'll each get $1,200.”