Minn. teen charged with offering his vote on eBay

Thu Jul 3, 2008 10:59 PM EDT
advertisement

MINNEAPOLIS — 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.

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.

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

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
  • 2 Votes
  • Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.

Back To Top

Published to:

What's this?
Who's leading the conversation?
This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.
0.9
{"commentId":2119674,"authorDomain":"jimmym"}
Jimi M

Boy they better nip that puppy in the bud.
Pretty soon everybody will be selling votes and making money ,not just the politicians.

{"commentId":2119674,"threadId":"306303","contentId":"1637320","authorDomain":"jimmym"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#1 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 6:26 PM EDT
{"commentId":2125011,"authorDomain":"killmyzombie"}
killmyzombie

i heard the mccain campaign was offering a bag of pork rinds and a pint of blood!!!

{"commentId":2125011,"threadId":"306303","contentId":"1637320","authorDomain":"killmyzombie"}
    Reply#2 - Sat Jul 5, 2008 8:38 PM EDT
    {"commentId":2126752,"authorDomain":"talerdyn"}
    GamerWithAVoice

    With the way things work candidates are already basically buying our votes. To campaign is just a fancy way of saying to use your persuasiveness to buy peoples votes. That said, if selling your vote can be a felony, why isn't refusing to vote a felony? Seems to me like a felony is a little much. Community service, that'd teach him.

    {"commentId":2126752,"threadId":"306303","contentId":"1637320","authorDomain":"talerdyn"}
      Reply#3 - Sun Jul 6, 2008 8:31 AM EDT
      {"commentId":2157493,"authorDomain":"spike41615"}
      mike122287

      my god...get a f***in life. So he sold a vote to an election we're getting screwed in either way. big flippin deal.

      {"commentId":2157493,"threadId":"306303","contentId":"1637320","authorDomain":"spike41615"}
        Reply#4 - Thu Jul 10, 2008 8:08 AM EDT
        {"canLink":false,"threadId":"306303","isPrivate":false}
        Leave a Comment:
        You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
        Newsvine Privacy Statement
        As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
        {"threadId":"306303","contentId":"1637320"}
        Start TrackingStart Tracking
        Stop TrackingStop Tracking
        Back To Top | Front Page