This poll taken at NYU has been making the rounds, about whether you’d sell your right to vote. Twenty percent of people said they would sell their vote in the next presidential election for an iPod Touch, 66% of people said they would sell their vote for a free ride at NYU, and 50% of people said that would sell their vote forever for a million dollars. I’m curious to know what others think about this, but to me, these numbers are staggeringly low.Granted, $130,000 (roughly the post-tax present value of four years at NYU – pre-tax we’re talking like $200,000) doesn’t buy what it used to, but I’m mystified that one-third of these students wouldn’t sell their ONE vote in this one election for that sum of money. I mean, 50% of people in that age group aren’t going to vote at all, implying they value the vote at less than the gas and time it takes to get to the polls.
Imagine how ridiculous this sounds if I frame it this way. Say you didn’t submit an absentee ballot, and were just planning to go to the polls after you got off work at 6 pm on Tuesday. It’s 5:59, you close your Google Chat windows, and start packing up your things to head to the polls. Then, right as you’re about to leave, your boss suddenly pops into your cubicle.
“I’m sorry, we need to get this presentation out tonight. I need you to stay until 9 pm.”“Hey fuck that, fatass, I don’t get paid overtime.”
“Oh. You’re right, that’s a fair point.”
“Damn right it is, fatass.”
“Okay, how about to compensate you for the extra 5 hours, I give you a $200,000.00 bonus right now?”
“Hm, that sounds fair. I’m sorry though. I really can’t stay and take that $200,000.00. I need to go vote.”
I realize I slightly exaggerate with that example, because it’s more than you just don’t vote. By selling your vote, the buyer could theoretically vote for ANYONE! Then they might elect someone who passes a law that says Grape Nuts are mandatory breakfast, lunch and dinner! But realistically, that’s not going to happen. For a total freak candidate with scary views to buy enough votes to make this happen, he’d have to buy around 50 million votes. Multiply that by $200,000 per, and he has to spend TEN TRILLION dollars to get elected. Or, as it shows up on my calculator, 1.0E13. 1.0E13 is a whole lot of dollars, more than most total freakjobs have sitting in the bank. And even if this mystery person has the capital to pull this off, he/she still has to deal with Congress and the Supreme Court.
Personally, I think I’d sell my vote for $100. Realistically, I might even do it for less, but let’s stick to round numbers. Frankly, even though I fully intend to vote, there’s probably a 20% chance that I don’t, whether I forget, or the weather’s really bad, or I have to work late. For most of you who read this, you’re probably the same way. So, considering that there’s a 20% chance I would essentially give up my vote for nothing, it seems like the asking price shouldn’t be that high.
So all you NYU students can enjoy all the moral satisfaction you get from being an upstanding citizen. I, meanwhile, will enjoy the delicious satisfaction of my filet mignon and poached lobster dinner.I grant that there are other mitigating factors here when it comes to the survey. Some of those students are likely on considerable financial aid packages, and thus receive less “money” in the vote sale. Others surely think that their parents pay for their education, and selling a vote for free tuition is akin to selling your vote for no money, assuming that none of the savings trickle down. And some of the NYU students probably don’t know how to read, did not know what they were choosing, and just wanted to check a box to avoid the humiliation of being exposed as illiterate in front of all the cool kids.
Nonetheless, I find the poll results insane. People should think about this stuff before they vote in these polls, because voting is really important. You can’t just make a reckless decision.
6 comments:
everyone at nyu needs to get off their bougy high horse and be realistic. one vote means nothing.
id sell my vote pretty low. even lower than the $100 you listed. regardless of who i vote for, my share of my states electoral votes are going to whoever wins the state. so if i vote republican, democrat, green, write in candidate, whatever, the vote is (most likely) going to the democratic nomination. if i vote democrat, it doesnt matter, because my vote didnt push that candidate over the edge. if i vote any other party, it really didnt matter, because my vote counts towards someone else. so my vote really means nothing. so i think i would strongly consider selling it for a free lunch. even fast food. defenitely if it was chick-fil-a.
Other students wrote that they were disgusted by the thought.
"I would be reversing history - a lot of people fought so that every citizen could be enfranchised," said a female in her second year at the Stern School of Business.
One CAS junior went even further, writing that "anyone who'd sell his lifelong right to vote should be deported."
This is stupid. That girl should be expelled from Stern. People should stop lying in surveys. The monetary value of one vote in California is probably less than $1 until you reach a critical mass. The same goes for NY.
It'd be interesting to see how much these people would sell their votes in a local election. I bet you'd see that they overvalue their presidential vote, and undervalue their mayoral or city councilman vote even though:
1) the local politician would institute policies that would touch their daily lives more in terms of breadth and depth than a national politician would; and
2) their vote in a national election is essentially worthless because people are actually voting for electors who may or may not follow the popular vote.
Not only that, but on a percentage basis, you have a lot more impact on the local politician's election. In fact, we should probably all forgo the presidential election, and just vote for our local school boards.
when do electors ACTUALLY choose to not vote with the popular vote? sure, they can but nobody really does. mostly its an accident, like in 04 when someone voted for john edwards for president and john edwards again for vp. its not like electors regularly use their power to vote for whoever they want. like if california suddenly went red or texas went blue because the electors chose to do that despite what the popular vote said. so yeah, technically its possible, but its not something thats so regular that it serves as a deterrent to voting. plenty of other factors do that just fine.
hmmm...who i do i need to sleep with to become an elector?
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