Isaac Asimov: Franchise
“Franchise” is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, published in If magazine in August 1955. The story envisions a future in which elections in the United States no longer depend on the votes of millions, but instead on a supercomputer called Multivac that selects a single citizen to represent the entire nation. This citizen, through his answers, will determine the electoral outcome. In the days leading up to the election, tension rises across the country as everyone awaits the revelation of who will be the chosen voter to decide the nation’s political future.