Selling vote on eBay earns 50 hours of community service
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 2:25 pm
- 1 Comment
A University of Minnesota student who caused a national uproar when he put his vote in the 2008 election up for sale on eBay has agreed with the Hennepin County District Attorney’s Office to complete 50 hours of community service.
Max Sanders, a 19-year-old liberal arts major from Edina, Minn., was charged with one felony count of bribery, treating and soliciting after offering to vote for the candidate of choice of the highest bidder. If Sanders completes his community service within six months, charges will be dismissed.
With a minimum bid of $10, Sanders received zero bids before eBay pulled the auction for policy violations.
1 Comment
Comment posted October 12, 2008 @ 4:50 pm
Am I to understand that any attempt to bribe or solicit a vote by offering something in exchange (in this case money, but this could include anything such as tax cuts, increased childcare funding, promises to revamp medicare, etc.) is a felony? Is it a felony to cast one’s vote in terms of one’s self interest? Crazy as that is, the more interesting point – I think – in this example is that the item (the vote for auction) didn’t receive the minimum bid. So much for our most valued token of a participatory democratic system.
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