Minneapolis man charged with auctioning vote on eBay

So much for encouraging entrepreneurship.
A college student in Minneapolis, Minnesota is saying he was only making a joke when he put his vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential election for sale on eBay, the internet auction site. But it looks like the joke went over-the-heads of the powers-that-be in his neck of the woods.
University of Minnesota student Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 for his vote on the auction site.
In the auction listing description, Sanders under the eBay handle “zepdrummer612” wrote:
“I am having trouble deciding who to vote for in the Presidential Election, so I am putting my vote up for sale. I am a legal resident of the state of Minnesota, and I am 19 years old. I am legally allowed to vote, and I have already voted in one previous election. The rules are simple, the highest bidder will tell me who to cast my vote for in the election. I will vote for any candidate of any party, as long as they are on the ballot. If the highest bidder so chooses, I will also abstain from voting, if that is what they so choose. To prove that I will actually vote for the candidate of the highest bidder’s choice, I will photograph myself inside the voting booth with my filled out ballot. Good luck! Your country depends on You!”
Well, you gotta admit, the kids got imagination, for whatever that’s worth.
Not too much it seems, cause when the Minnesota secretary of state's office heard about Sanders offering his vote for sale, they got more than a bit ticked off and informed prosecutors. A subpoena was sent to eBay officials who gave up Sanders’s identity to authorities.
When he was contacted, Sanders admitted he offered his vote on the auction site, but added he’d since removed it. “That was a joke. It's no longer listed.”
But the joke was on Sanders, who 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.
"We take it very seriously. Fundamentally, we believe it is wrong to sell your vote," said John Aiken, a spokesman for the Minnesota secretary of state's office. The law has hardly been used since the 1920s, when folks regularly sold their votes for liquor.
The law prohibits voters from soliciting, receiving or accepting any "money, property, or other thing of monetary value" in exchange for a vote. Anyone who had bid on the vote could've been in hot water too because the law also prohibits paying for someone's vote with money, "food, liquor, clothing, entertainment, or other thing of monetary value."
Offers to sell votes for money are rare but authorities have to be vigilant, Aiken said. "Fundamentally, it flies in the face of everything that voting is supposed to mean.”
Both Sanders and his attorney declined comment Thursday. The charge carries up to five years' imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
By the way, the eBay offer got no bids. Funny, with all the money McCain and Obama have blown on this election campaign, you’d think at least one of them would have spent 10 bucks on a guaranteed vote.