College Student Tries to Sell Vote on E-Bay

Minnesota prosecutors charged a nineteen-year-old college student with a felony for bribery and solicitation, all because of an e-bay posting. A journalism student at the university of minnesota tried to sell his vote on e-bay.

University of minnesota student Max Sanders posted an auction on the popular website in May.

In the e-bay posting, Sanders said he was unsure about which presidential candidate to vote for, so for a price, he said he'd vote for whichever candidate the winning bidder picked.

The bidding started at ten dollars, but the joke stopped there when the minnesota secretary of state's office learned Sanders was auctioning his presidential vote on e-bay.

pat diamond, a Deputy Hennepin Co. Attorney said, "We want elections to be about ideas, and not who has the biggest pocket book."

"He's done some pretty stupid things in the past," said Sanders's friend max Lucia, "But he was always a good guy. I honestly think he didn't realize what he was doing."

The college student told investigators that he was auctioning his vote on e-bay as a joke, but in Minnesota bribery is a felony, and can be punishable with up to five years in prison, and a $10,000 fine.

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Saturday, July 05, 2008 |