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If
and when the Congress and the President reinstate a military
draft, the Selective Service System would conduct a National
Draft Lottery to determine the order in which young men would
be drafted.
The
lottery would establish the priority of call based on the
birth dates of registrants. The first men drafted would be
those turning age 20 during the calendar year of the lottery.
For example, if a draft were held in 1998, those men born
in 1978 would be considered first. If a young man turns 21
in the year of the draft, he would be in the second priority,
in turning 22 he would be in the third priority, and so forth
until the year in which he turns 26 at which time he is over
the age of liability. Younger men would not be called in that
year until men in the 20-25 age group are called.
Because
of the enormous impact of this lottery, it would be conducted
publicly, with full coverage by the media. Accredited observers
from public interest groups will have full access to observe
the proceedings.
To
make the lottery as fair as possible, the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed a unique random
calendar and number selection program for Selective Service.
Using this random selection method for birthdays, each day
of the year is selected by computer in a random manner, and
that date is placed in a capsule. The capsules are then loaded
in a large drum on a random basis. By the same method, numbers
from 1 to 365 (366 for men born in a leap year) are also selected
in a random fashion, placed in capsules, and the capsules
are placed into a second drum. The process, repeated a second
time, results in two sets of drums. Official observers certify
that the capsule-filling and drum-loading were conducted according
to established procedures. This certification is secured to
each drum; they are sealed and placed in secure storage. Should
a lottery be conducted, one of the first actions would be
an inspection of these stored drums and the selection of a
set to be used in the lottery.
Here
is how the lottery would work: One capsule
is drawn from the drum containing birth dates January 1 through
December 31. One capsule is then drawn from the drum containing
the sequence numbers from 1 through 365 (366 if the draft
will call men born during a leap year) and the date and number
are paired to establish the sequence number for each birth
date. This is done in full view of all observers, officials,
and the media.
For
example, if the date of August 4 is drawn first from the "date"
drum, and the sequence number of 32 is drawn from the "number's"
drum at the same time, then those men turning 20 on August
4 would be ordered for induction processing only after men
whose birthdays drew sequence numbers 1 through 31. The drawings
continue until all 365 (or 366) birthdays of the year are
paired with a sequence number.
After
the lottery is completed and results certified, the sequence
of call is transmitted to the Selective Service System's Data
Management Center. Almost immediately the first induction
notices are prepared and sent via mailgram to men whose birth
dates drew the lowest lottery numbers.
This
system, based on random selection of birth dates, with the
order of priority for reporting assigned in a scientifically
random manner, is a fair and equitable method of calling men
to serve.
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