IF AMERICA’S politicians are really concerned about young voters turning out for the presidential election next month, what they first need to do is turn them on, says Liz Gately.

The recent Oxford graduate and her Ivy League friends are the architects of “Votergasm”, the most outrageous of a colourful array of “Get Out the Vote” efforts on the internet.

“Votergasm” describes itself as “non-partisan but pro-partying” and urges young people to reward those who vote with sex and to punish those who don’t by refusing to sleep with them.

Visitors to the site can sign a “Votergasm” pledge, mimicking those employed by the official presidential campaigns.

The first level is a “Citizen”, who pledges to withhold sex Lysistrata-style from non-voters for a week after the poll.The next level is a “Patriot”, who promises to have sex with a voter on election night and to withhold sex from non-voters for a week. The highest level is an “American Hero” who pledges not only to have sex with a voter on election night but also to forswear sex with non-voters for the next four-year presidential term.

“Politics were always fairly sexy at Oxford,” said Ms Gately, an American who did an English literature degree at Exeter College in 2002. “People always got off with each other after Union elections. There’s no reason things shouldn’t be like that here.

“I’ve taken the Votergasm pledge as a Patriot. When I took it, I had someone in mind, but that’s since fallen apart. So now I am a bit apprehensive, but I look forward to taking the plunge and doing my patriotic duty,” she said. “I’m actually throwing the big New York party, so the pledge is spurring me to throw a great party, with plenty of people whose chad I’d like to hang, as it were.”

At other sites Americans can redeem voting pledges for online dating points, get free “Wax Bush” tokens for bikini lines, buy underwear adorned with political slogans, or take part in a “Great Kiss-Off” to President George W. Bush. Most of the sexy offerings come from the political Left.

“On the Left, we are used to being these pain-in-the-ass anarchists . . . they are much more likely to come up with creative things,” John Hlinko, a pioneer of internet activism, said. “On the Right, I don’t see as many little groups springing up.”

But conservatives claim the lead in the on-line bulletin boards known as “blogs”. It was right-wing discussion sites that quickly exposed as false the documents behind a CBS television report questioning President Bush’s Vietnam-era military record.

“When it comes to news-oriented sites there is no question that conservatives are doing a better job,” said Brian Barco, the founder of a right-wingers’ dating service called conservativematch.com. “But when it comes to mobilising people, I definitely think the Left is doing a better job.”

Mr Barco plans to send out mass e-mails to the 10,000 members of his site (slogan: “For sweethearts, not bleeding hearts”), but he says he would not use Votergasm’s tactics. “I find it absolutely appalling.”

Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing radio talk-show host, called on his millions of listeners to “shut ‘em down” by overloading Votergasm. Even so, 25,000 people have signed a “Votergasm” pledge — enough to make a difference in what the group calls “swinger” states.

The group is holding cocktail parties in three swing states. “Part of the problem with the demographic is that no one is doing anything to appeal to them,” said Karen Schenewerk, one of the founders. “We went for something fun.”

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