About a week ago I stopped by the local alternative bookstore to pick up a copy of the Modern Drunkard Magazine. The cashier had an idea I thought was interesting. He said I should throw a party and let people who had voted drink for free. I told him I am not one of those people who believes that everyone should vote - I only want you to vote if you agree with me. He asked me if most of my friends agreed with my political views. I said that most probably agreed with some, but on the other hand I have (material deleted because I am at work) with someone who not two days before had said he believed that it should be illegal.
Now, I am not a huge fan of alcohol to begin with. MDM is an enjoyable read, but I refuse to deal with hangovers when I can have fun without them. Also, alcohol would be too expensive if I wanted to have lots of people, and my apartment is too small to have tons of people over anyway. It would seem to me that this type of party is one where the more people who show up, the better. Of course my lease only lasts a year.
But in a hypothetical situation, say eighty years ago when the 18th amendment was still in force and I had a decent-sized house... would it work? Should it work? It would be too much work and probably illegal (and some would say immoral) to check how they voted. Giving free alcohol to anyone who voted in 1924, though, would tend to attract only those who wanted the 21st amendment. Yes, there would be hypocrites then as now, but in general the political issue my time-traversing self cared about would be well represented.
Thoughts?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
If I can translate what you're saying, you're asking if you can give drugs to people who can prove they've voted -- perhaps by showing you their "I voted" sticker or something -- on the grounds that people who'd accept your drugs would be more likely to vote your way -- i.e. for legalization?
The principle is sound, and roughly the same thing DOES regularly happen. Unfortunately, as drugs are themselves illegal, you'd have to settle for alcoholic parties -- which may attract the wrong demographic. Perhaps if you asked Phish to headline, or something....
Posted by Jalapenoman (Member # 6575) on :
There was a very successful political family in El Paso, Texas for many years. Raymond Telles was mayor several times, as was his son. The father also was U.S. ambassador to Mexico under Kennedy and Johnson.
The way that Telles stayed in power was to do exactly what you suggested. He rented all of the school buses in town on election day and loaded them up with beer. He would then drive through south El Paso and pick up as many people as he could. THey would take round about ways to the polling places (time for them to have a few before they got there). After voting, he would take them back to their neighborhoods and load up a new batch.
These men and women would, naturally, vote for the family that gave them free beer. People were used to this and would not go to vote until after the bus with beer picked them up.
This was later declared to be illegal, but it made one family a ton of money!
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
So, exactly how is that illegal now? Is it illegal to pick people up on voting day? Is it illegal to rent busses on voting day? Is it illegal to give or sell alchohol on voting day?
Posted by Danzig (Member # 4704) on :
I will not be doing this, as it was not my idea and I do not believe voting really works. Scheduled substances might be out, but there are dozens of chemicals that are either completely legal or in a gray area. Not that it really matters as it will not be happening.
I guess more broadly I am wondering if it is wrong to buy or sell votes, and if so why. If I do vote it will be for the candidate which I feel is most likely to 1) directly support my interests, or 2) unintentionally sabotage competing interests through actions that were not directly related. (If KY is a battleground state for a Senator to tie, then I would vote for whoever would be most likely to cause more of a gridlock in the system and thus pass fewer laws.) Is this really so different than accepting beer or money in return for voting?