The Game -- I'm Paying Voters to Vote

Rapper The Game isn't letting New Yorkers use Hurricane Sandy as an excuse not to vote today -- in fact, he tells TMZ, he's already shelled out $10,000 to 500 voters stranded by the storm ... in order to help them make it to the polls.

Game tells us, the money was intended to help voters who were hit hard by last week's disaster to pay for gas or another form of transportation in order to cast their ballot.

And get this -- Game says he's so committed to the cause ... he even helped shuttle people to the polls in his own car.

By the way, Game ... who lives in LA, says he voted by absentee ballot -- and claims he's not doing this to influence people to vote for President Obama.