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Should selling your vote be legal?


sear

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Minn. Teen Charged With Offering His Vote on eBay

The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS

A college student ... put his vote in this fall's presidential election up for sale on the Web auction site eBay.

University of Minnesota student Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder's preferred candidate.

Sanders was charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting under an 1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote.

Sanders and his attorney, Steven Levine, declined to comment Thursday. The charge carries up to five years' imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.

As for the offer on eBay? It got no bids.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5307255

According to this article, "1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote."

Is it a crime in your State?

Should it be?

Can / should a State law have legal bearing on a federal election?

What is the reason that selling votes is a bad, or good idea?

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What a silly crime. Up to 5 years? Who cares what your motivation for voting for someone is, I'd gladly sell my vote if someone offered me money for it.

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Some candidates try and buy your vote now by promising you welfare and handouts in return for your vote.

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I think it's very important to keep this highly illegal. If we don't, poor families who are desperate for money will sell their votes to big businesses who have an infinite amount of money to buy votes. The businesses will, of course, use these votes to elect candidates who will give them even more power and allow them to dodge even more labor laws. As a result, the poor will go even further down the drain.

Selling votes. Jeez, what an absolutely horrible idea. I think the fine is appropriate to the crime (though the kid who did this probably didn't mean anything by it and shouldn't be nailed to the wall legally)

Attn conservatives reading this:

I know that "Trickle Down Economics" says empowering business is a natural way to empower the community. The problem is that trickle down economics assumes that the businesses are hiring people WITHIN the community and spending profits WITHIN the community. These businesses don't. They outsource to third world countries where people will work 15 hours a day for 10 cents an hour. Trickle down economics only works in a closed economic system.

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"Some candidates try and buy your vote" ohio

True.

But do you equate attempting to attract votes as morally & legally the same as offering to sell votes?

Siara,

You're way too sensible.

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I totally agree with you Siara. Allowing industry and businesses to export jobs has been disasterous. If government is going to give them breaks they should be held to at least a minimum set of conditions. What really makes me mad is when they move their headquarter's off shores to escape paying taxes.

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At the moment we have a prime minister who wasn't voted for so i'm beginning to doubt the effectiveness of the whole voting thingy.

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"What really makes me mad is when they move their headquarter's off shores to escape paying taxes." ohio

Me totally too.

mr nobody,

I feel your pain.

The U.S. has a president that the electorate rejected in Y2K. But due to a fluky provision in the U.S. Constitution called the electoral college, this maniac became President anyway.

Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of innocent humans have died as a result.

It's not merely a tragedy. It's a catastrophe.

Repeal the electoral college, or more innocent humans will needlessly die!

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What really makes me mad is when they move their headquarter's off shores to escape paying taxes.

cut taxes and bring them home!

I was a delegate for my county at the state convention, our county chair is going to be a presidential elector (electoral college thing) so I'm trying to nudge him to vote for Ron Paul. :P

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this should stay highly illegal if it was legalised then big corporations would buy votes in order to put the polotician in control who will offer more for the corporations the before you know poloticians are owned by companies and votes are bought merely to get that polotician in power tell him what to do and allow the corporations to dodge laws and hire for less than minimun wage

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Big corporations have both candidates in their pocket to begin with, so why does it matter?

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Yes, but how would the buyer know that the seller actually voted for their candidate? I mean you would only have the seller's word that they did, the buyer or seller couldn't take pictures or film the vote so who is to say the seller actually voted their way? :lol:

Edited by Blue Box
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"Yes, but how would the buyer know that the seller actually voted for their candidate?" Blue

And how would the buyer know the vote was only sold once?

Why not sell it 50 times, to either side?

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And how would the buyer know the vote was only sold once?

Why not sell it 50 times, to either side?

Exactly, so basically the buyer is buying "nothing" in all cases. Since the buyer wouldn't be able to have any way of knowing who the seller really voted for or who else the seller sold the said "vote" to.

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Blue,

Perhaps I'm not quite the cynic you are.

I'm not prepared to assume everyone lies all the time.

My position is, the prospective vote buyer might, or might not get what he thinks he's paying for.

And either way, he might never know.

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Blue,

Perhaps I'm not quite the cynic you are.

I'm not prepared to assume everyone lies all the time.

My position is, the prospective vote buyer might, or might not get what he thinks he's paying for.

And either way, he might never know.

;) I don't assume everyone lies, only the people I don't know very well :lol: . I'm more or less cautious of who I don't know, I know they have no reason not to lie since they have no connection to me (unless they have evidence to back up what they are selling or what have you is true). I for one am a pretty honest and blunt person and have always been ever since I was little. I see no reason to lie when the truth is much more believable to me. I'm not saying their aren't more out there like me, I'm just saying I'd rather be safe then sorry until I can honestly trust the person (Once bitten twice shy deal here for me).

You are right about the buyer might or might not get what he is paying for and would never really be able to know which is what I was also getting at. "Buyer Beware" is a very truthful statement for this.

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According to this article, "1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote."

Is it a crime in your State?

Should it be?

Can / should a State law have legal bearing on a federal election?

What is the reason that selling votes is a bad, or good idea?

It is a very bad idea. I think it shouldn't be legal. My reason is being that the only people who would want to sell their vote are poorer people who need money, or even middle class people who just need money or want money. Therefore, our future would be in the hands of only the richest people in America. All the rich people or maybe even just a few who want a certain candidate to win would be out buying people's votes. Also this could start a secret campaign for one or both candidates to track down these people and buy their votes. Another thing is, I am democrat, and it has been proven that most very wealthy people (I'm talking people who make 500,000 a year and higher) are republican. So if the rich bought the regular people's votes then we would more than likely have a republican in office every time.

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Some candidates try and buy your vote now by promising you welfare and handouts in return for your vote.

or promising tax cuts while huge deficits abound.

Edited by Lt_Ripley
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I remember my mom telling me that her dad would always lecture her mom about who exactly she should vote for. ( Always straight Republican ticket ). But once she got in the voting booth, she voted for the exact opposite people. It was just her little way of getting back at him for him constantly lecturing her like she was a child.

So. Once people get behind the curtain, no one knows who they vote for.

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I remember my mom telling me that her dad would always lecture her mom about who exactly she should vote for. ( Always straight Republican ticket ). But once she got in the voting booth, she voted for the exact opposite people. It was just her little way of getting back at him for him constantly lecturing her like she was a child.

So. Once people get behind the curtain, no one knows who they vote for.

Another good point. You can't trust everyone anyways.

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Some candidates try and buy your vote now by promising you welfare and handouts in return for your vote.

Irony of irony, they buy your vote with your own money... :P

However, I would never sell my vote. Why sell your will to decide your fate to someone else? Tells a lot about anyone who would even consider that thing...

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or promising tax cuts while huge deficits abound.

I like both ideas.

Less handouts + Less taxes = Less government

Sounds like a winning combination to me.

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"I know they have no reason not to lie since they have no connection to me" Blue

"All honors wounds are self-inflicted." Andrew Carnegie

One reason for them not to lie is their own integrity.

"I for one am a pretty honest" Blue

Me too.

However, if you watch the Liam Neeson movie Rob Roy you may find that this is an unacceptably low standard of honesty. "pretty honest" is basically a less scalding euphemism for "dishonest".

We should know better!

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The answer in no it should not be legal for the purpose of ensuring democracy is fair and elections don't get rigged like it's supposed to be.

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"All honors wounds are self-inflicted." Andrew Carnegie

One reason for them not to lie is their own integrity. ~sear

Some people do not have a conscience or integrity and don't really care about anybody but themselves. I know I have seen it. Which is why I am cautious of other people. I do not mean all but there are quite a few people out there like that.

Me too.

However, if you watch the Liam Neeson movie Rob Roy you may find that this is an unacceptably low standard of honesty. "pretty honest" is basically a less scalding euphemism for "dishonest".

We should know better! ~sear

As for the movie "Rob Roy", I've never seen it. I guess "pretty honest" to one person means another thing to the next, maybe I should of said "very honest and to the point" when I approach you :hmm:. You do not know me I do not know you one can never tell who is on the other side of the internet. Which brings me back to "I don't assume everyone lies, only the people I don't know very well". I don't know you very well, you don't know me very well either until I do know you well or you can prove to me other wise I will always be cautious of you. I guess you do the same with me huh, since you are basically calling me dishonest :lol: ?

Edited by Blue Box
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