Jul 08, 2008 10:03PM GMT
Question
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Politics - United States
What should happen to the kid that tried to sell his vote on Ebay?
Nineteen-year-old Max P. Sanders probably through it all in good fun when he decided to sell his 2008 Presidential election vote on eBay, asking for a minimum of 10 dollars in exchange for a ballot marked with the President of the buyer's choice.The Hennepin County Attorney's Office in Minnesota isn't laughing. That office subpoenaed eBay for his personal information and served Sanders with papers charging him of felony bribery under a state law that makes offering a vote for sale illegal.
Sanders had already removed the auction, which got no bids and which he claimed was a joke, by the time the charge was made, but the prosecution isn't budging. If convicted, Sanders could be fined $10,000 and end up in prison for five years. The law was primarily used in the 1920s during the Prohibition era.
Minnesota prosecutor Pat Diamond says, "There are two things going on here in terms of why it's a crime. One is the notion that elections should be a contest of ideas and not of pocketbooks—at least not in the sense of straight-out 'I can buy your vote.' The second notion is that everybody gets one vote, and you don't get to buy another one."
As for eBay, I can't find any specific prohibition against offering a vote for sale, though sellers cannot offer services which are explicitly against the law. Is selling your lote illegal in every state? Just curious...
LINK: Minn. tenn charged with offering his vote on eBay
Updated July 7 with clarification from Minnesota's Secretary of State, which is not the actual prosecutor in the case.
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raves posted Jul 09, 2008 06:25PM GMT
Answered Be forced to campaign for Hillary in 2012, to show him just how important his vote is
How about none of the above? The government should mind their business and stop trying to oppress people with archaic laws that haven't been used or even heard of in 80+ years...
Who the f*** are these people trying to kid anyway? Everybody knows that the Presidential elections are all about money... with partisan candidates basically BUYING votes with campaign dollars... or false promises.
The electorate process in this country is a shambles and a travesty. This kid shouldn't go to jail... the people who continue to uphold this flawed charade of freedom should.
http://www.sportsix.blogspot.com -
raves +1 Jul 09, 2008 08:02PM GMTi totally agree with the above!
there should be a "none of the above choice"!!! i mean----COME ON!
it is an outrage that the law should be so controlling----especially in America which is meant 2 be the land of the free.
you're going to put someone in prison b/c he tries to sell something thats rightly his?????????
these people all they care about are appearences!!! "welll we don't want people 2 think these elections are all about money"
DUH! it totally is already so why even bother.
that vote belongs 2 him and nobody should take away the right 2 do anythign he wants with it.
at least its better than not voting at all, at least SOMEONE will put it to use. come on america this is totally ridiculous, the kid was just having some fun and that vote is HIS!!!!
geez -
raves posted Jul 09, 2008 02:36AM GMT
Answered Be forced to campaign for Hillary in 2012, to show him just how important his vote is
I really don't think jail time is a good idea. They need to take into consideration his past if any troubles with law, his age, his not knowing it was against the law, his just doing it for a joke. And I don't think the fine should be so huge that it will put him in debt the rest of his life. Maybe he should do community service. He was just being an immature kid. The law needs to bend sometime under unusual and extenuating circumstances. -
raves +2 posted Jul 08, 2008 10:36PM GMT (edited)
Answered Be forced to campaign for Hillary in 2012, to show him just how important his vote is
I never even heard of this! I'm so ashamed of myself! Poor kid probably got the picture when he learned he may have to pay $10,000 or serve 5 years in prison. I wonder what else he sells on ebay... -
raves +2 posted Jul 08, 2008 10:13PM GMT
Answered Jail Time
None of the above. So many votes are handed over to candidates/parties that they are worthless anyway. He knows his vote doesn't matter and I think it was a powerful statement to make about how our voting system sucks and isn't worth anything anyway. I personally would never sell my vote, and I don't know his intentions for selling his, either he doesn't care or he is making a statement. Either way we should look at correcting the system. It isn't working and this is proof of the citizen disdain for the system.
Answered Guillotine
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