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jeff47

(26,549 posts)
1. The problem is this makes vote buying work
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 05:55 PM
Jun 2012

Let's say I'm walking up to a polling place, and some guy offers me $100 to vote for Romney. Currently, I can go in, vote for Obama, and lie to him. I get my $100.

That's why vote buying doesn't happen today - there's no way for the buyer to ensure that the voter actually voted their way.

Now imagine the scenario with a receipt - The buyer will only give me the $100 if I show him my receipt. Now he's able to successfully buy votes.

Further, what does your receipt actually prove? All it proves is the receipt printer thinks you voted for Obama. That has nothing to do with the official tally. In addition, you only have the receipt for your vote. How do you prove election fraud?

More complex systems have been designed in an attempt to get around this second problem, but they still suffer from the vote buying problem.

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