Robert De Niro did wonders for the popularity of polygraph machines when “Meet the Parents” was released. Indiana congressional debates might just do the same.

According to an Oct. 8 Associated Press article, the Republican and Libertarian candidates for the state’s congressional seat have agreed to a proposal that would have them hooked to a polygraph machine during a debate. The Democratic incumbent has yet to agree to the proposal.

The use of a polygraph in a debate implies that the candidates will lie even before the event begins. It additionally would create a negative aura around what should be an informative function and potentially could send a demoralizing message to countries that hold the United States and its democracy to such a high standard. People around the world may find themselves asking why they should trust our government if the people it represents can’t trust it, thus hurting our relations with them and making us look uninvolved.

Additionally, having a polygraph machine at a debate allows voters to be lazy and not have to find out the positions of the candidates. By seeing the results from the polygraph, voters will formulate an opinion based on that and not on the history or stances of the candidates. Instead of resorting to potentially inaccurate results, voters should do their homework and vote based upon more reliable findings.

Polygraph machines are also not scientific as far as proving whether someone is lying or not. Furthermore, politicians tend to use half- truths and misleading statements instead of flat out lying when conducting themselves in debates. These are things that cannot be detected by polygraphs and politicians would likely do their best to avoid having their lies detected. The machines can be manipulated and provide incorrect results, and to stake an election on them is far too much of a risk.