NationStates Jolt Archive

I was doing a knockoff of the political compass test, and a question came up on whether one should be able to sell one's vote for cash if desired.

I had never thought of this before.

What do you think of a vote-market being set up? Personally, I think it is a terrible idea that would simply give the wealthy yet another advantage in democracy.

I was doing a knockoff of the political compass test, and a question came up on whether one should be able to sell one's vote for cash if desired.

I had never thought of this before.

What do you think of a vote-market being set up? Personally, I think it is a terrible idea that would simply give the wealthy yet another advantage in democracy.

The NAACP in Ohio was recruiting voters using crack. It's illegal in either case.

I don't believe you should be able to sell your vote - for any price.

I was doing a knockoff of the political compass test, and a question came up on whether one should be able to sell one's vote for cash if desired.

I had never thought of this before.

What do you think of a vote-market being set up? Personally, I think it is a terrible idea that would simply give the wealthy yet another advantage in democracy.
Well it could be argued that it's a good thing in that each person involved in the transaction gets what he or she values more. On the other hand, it would screw up our government even worse, so no.

The NAACP in Ohio was recruiting voters using crack. It's illegal in either case.

I don't believe you should be able to sell your vote - for any price.That's crazy. Is this from a reputable news source?

I was doing a knockoff of the political compass test, and a question came up on whether one should be able to sell one's vote for cash if desired.

I had never thought of this before.

What do you think of a vote-market being set up? Personally, I think it is a terrible idea that would simply give the wealthy yet another advantage in democracy.

In a system where the government's powers were srictly limited by the constitution, I wouldn't see any problems with vote-buying.

However, as long as one group can vote themselves benefits at the expense of another, it would be dreadful.

Well it could be argued that it's a good thing in that each person involved in the transaction gets what he or she values more. On the other hand, it would screw up our government even worse, so no.
Not that it doesn't have a long and infamous history...

Meh, why not? It may just be incentive enough for some people to get off their asses and vote in the first place. I don't see what's so wrong with it.

That's crazy. Is this from a reputable news source?
It was all over the news during the elections.

Local Ohio News:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041019/NEWS09/410190343

Here's a voting rights site

http://www.ac4vr.com/reports/072005/ohio.html

(C) NAACP, ACORN And Other Third-Party Groups Linked To Thousands Of Fraudulent And Suspicious Voter Registrations In Ohio

NAACP National Voter Fund

# NAACP National Voter Fund Worker Paid Crack Cocaine In Exchange For Fraudulent Registrations. Perhaps the most outrageous example of voter registration fraud occurred in Defiance County, where Chad Staton pled guilty to submitting hundreds of fraudulent voter registration forms for the NAACP National Voter Fund in exchange for crack cocaine. Mr. Staton filled out and submitted voter registration forms in the name of cartoon characters, action figures, celebrities and other fictitious residents of Lucas, Cuyahoga and other counties.

Elections officials throughout northern Ohio received registration forms from Mary Poppins, Jeffrey Dahmer, George Foreman, Michael Jordan, Dick Tracy and a host of other individuals. After an investigation of the matter, Defiance County Sheriff David Westrick learned that Mr. Staton was responsible for completing some of these forms and arrested him.

Mr. Staton provided a taped admission regarding these crimes, was indicted and subsequently pled guilty. Mr. Staton admitted being paid for his efforts in crack cocaine by an NAACP National Voter Fund employee, Georgianna Pitts. Ms. Pitts, a Toledo native, was reported to be an employee of the NAACP and paid Mr. Staton with crack cocaine for the falsified forms. Ms. Pitts died suddenly of a drug overdose before being prosecuted. Sheriff Westrick was able to trace the falsified registration forms and learned that they were submitted to the Cuyahoga County Board by NAACP Voter Protection Project, located in Cleveland, Ohio. (270) (Exhibit T)

# NAACP National Voter Fund Registers Man Dead For Two Decades. In Lake County, a man who had been dead for more than two decades was registered on a card submitted by the NAACP. (271)

# 48 Forged Voter Registration Cards Submitted by NAACP. In Mahoning County, 48 voter registration cards were flagged as part of a group of cards submitted by the NAACP in Cleveland. The registration cards were originally misfiled by the NAACP with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections which forwarded them to Mahoning County. Many appeared to be in the same handwriting, and as the Board attempted to verify them, voters repeatedly told the board that they did not sign new registration cards. (272)

# NAACP National Voter Fund Investigated In Cleveland. County Board of Election officials flagged 17 registration cards submitted by NAACP National Voter Fund state director Thaddeus Jackson, which all bore signatures that looked alike. The Board of Elections asked the Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office to investigate the potential forged signatures arising from a registration drive where volunteers were paid $2.00 per signature collected. Most of these registrations contained fake addresses, fictitious names and vulgarities. (273)

It was all over the news during the elections.

Local Ohio News:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041019/NEWS09/410190343

Here's a voting rights site

http://www.ac4vr.com/reports/072005/ohio.html
Holy Crap!

I was doing a knockoff of the political compass test, and a question came up on whether one should be able to sell one's vote for cash if desired.

I had never thought of this before.

What do you think of a vote-market being set up? Personally, I think it is a terrible idea that would simply give the wealthy yet another advantage in democracy.

1. The vote market has been in existance since the vote.

2. The only party in existance is the wealthy. (The fact that one side is against gay marriage and gun control and the other is for both is just wrapping-paper.)

Holy Crap!
I'm not saying that Democrats were the only ones engaged in vote fraud, but the Republicans were not alone as many Democrats believe.

Politics is pretty dirty in some districts, and the fact that they'll stoop to crack tells me that they're pretty desperate.

I'm not saying that Democrats were the only ones engaged in vote fraud, but the Republicans were not alone as many Democrats believe.

Politics is pretty dirty in some districts, and the fact that they'll stoop to crack tells me that they're pretty desperate.

As usual, both parties are really doing the same thing but they're doing it differently. The Dems rely on crack addicts and dead people, and the Repubs rig the Diebold machines.

I'm sure it's already been done quite often. Up har in Canada, back during the starting and before Confederation, votes were bought with booze, pay raises, booze. Yeah, mostly booze. Oh, and we voted when we were drunk. And got beaten if we voted the wrong way. Or got fired if we voted something different from our boss. Oh yeah, because it was public voting. Anyway, it was hell. So, no.