Student charged with trying to sell vote on eBay

tsquared

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- A college student claimed it was all a joke when he put his vote in this fall's presidential election up for sale on the Web auction site eBay. But prosecutors didn't see the humor.


Prosecutors say a college student put his vote up for sale on eBay in return for voting for the bidder's candidate.

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.

"Good luck!" Sanders wrote under the eBay handle zepdrummer612. "You're (sic) country depends on You!"

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.

According to a criminal complaint, the Minnesota secretary of state's office learned about the offering on the Web site and told prosecutors. Investigators sent a subpoena to eBay and got information that led to Sanders.

The student told investigators he made the eBay posting, adding, "That was a joke. It's no longer listed," according to the complaint.

"We take it very seriously. Fundamentally, we believe it is wrong to sell your vote," said John Aiken, a spokesman for the office. "There are people that have died for this country for our right to vote, and to take something that lightly, to say, 'I can be bought.'

"It's a real shame," he said. "I can imagine the conversations being held in American Legion Clubs and VFWs about whether this is a joke or not."

The scarcely used law had its heyday in the 1920s, when many people sold their votes in exchange for liquor, Assistant County Attorney Pat Diamond said.

"There are two things going on here in terms of why it's a crime," he said. "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."

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


Always pays to check the laws before posting on ebay

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flute

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PrincessArky

lol

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Jolie Rouge

A modern electoral tradition: selling votes on eBay
by Virginie Montet
1 hour, 14 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Ever since the online auction site eBay sprung up 10 years ago as a hub for selling just about everything imaginable, a handful of Americans has tried to sell votes, even though it is illegal. "Over the years, every time there is a major election, we have had people attempt to put up a listing. We catch them very quickly," said eBay spokeswoman Catherine England.

The "tradition" has continued this year, with at least a half dozen attempts so far to sell votes ahead of the 2008 US presidential election, offers that have all been removed from the system. At least one person has been charged with a crime.

Selling one's vote is prohibited by federal law and also by most states.

So in order to penalize a 19-year-old student who, in May, posted his vote for sale on eBay for a bid of 10 dollars, state authorities in the northern state of Minnesota resorted to a law passed back in 1893, and actively enforced during the Prohibition Era years later, to punish people who tried to sell their votes against alcohol.

"When we see these listings we definitely take them down," said England.

The eBay site records about seven million new articles for sale each day and on average posts about 112 million items for sale at any given moment. Given that volume of activity, patrolling for illegal posts presents a challenge.

"It's possible that someone would put a listing up, it's possible to be up for a couple of hours before we catch it. It's possible that for a brief period of time something might actually be visible on the site," she said.

"We are very clear, if you engage in illegal activity on our site, we absolutely will share information with law enforcement. We provide testimony in court."

The Minnesota man was charged with corruption and solicitation, criminal charges that could have cost him up to five years in jail and a 10,000-dollar fine. But he was sentenced at the end of July to just 50 hours of community service.

More recently, a Maryland resident posted his vote for a starting bid of 3.99. "To the highest bidder, your vote is my vote!" the offer read.

He also offered to film himself inside the voting booth so that the bidder would know he had voted as pledged. "Maryland's law specifically prohibits selling votes," said Ross Goldstein, the state's deputy elections administrator. "And what this person was proposing was probably not so feasible, unrealistic," he said. "The whole thing was a little ridiculous."

The offer rose just one cent in the bidding before it was removed from eBay. "I don't think it will happen more and more as the elections are approaching," said Goldstein, calling the Maryland attempt "just an isolated case."

England agreed, stressing "it's not anything that's widespread or cause for concern in any way," and attributed the trend simply to people's desire to express themselves. "People are just looking for an audience. They are really using that listing as an opportunity to put their opinion on there," she said.

"We have had instances that would be similar in nature, where we have sports fan who are really unhappy with the performance of their favorite team and they may try to list the coach for sale, as a way to express their unhappiness with the performance of their team," she said. "But obviously you can't sell another person."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080820...r5GEmWC s0NUE

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Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

janelle

The scarcely used law had its heyday in the 1920s, when many people sold their votes in exchange for liquor, Assistant County Attorney Pat Diamond said.

HAHAHAHA, they trusted a drunk to vote the way they told them? Probably went in and checked anything. It was hard to see.