[Announce-DAN] [Fwd: California Shuts Down Vote-Trader Web Site: Secretary of state calls such swaps illegal]

["getmelissa@uswest.net" <getmelissa@uswest.net>]

From: mgivel@earthlink.net

For people in other states, I would advise you to check with your
Secretary of State or a good lawyer before you engage in vote swapping.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/10/31/MN119607.DTL

California Shuts Down Vote-Trader Web Site
Secretary of state calls such swaps illegal

Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle Political Writer 
                                                         
Tuesday, October 31, 2000 


California election officials shut down a Web site late
yesterday that allowed people to trade their votes over the
Internet. 

In the past few days, several sites popped up that were
designed to allow supporters of presidential candidates Al
Gore and Ralph Nader to trade votes. 

One site, started by a Los Angeles Web designer, was
taken down last night after the secretary of state's office
said it was illegal. 

Secretary of State Bill Jones said earlier yesterday that any
``inducement'' to vote a certain way is considered illegal
under California law. 

The idea behind vote swapping is that voters in
battleground states who would like to vote for Green Party
candidate Nader, but are worried that could cost Democrat
Gore the overall election, can switch their vote with
someone in a state that is already solidly for Gore or
Republican candidate George W. Bush. 

The vote-swap Web pages started after an article
suggested that voters in different states could swap their
votes and hopefully accomplish two goals 

--electing Gore president and getting Nader 5 percentage
points, the threshold needed for the Green Party to get
federal matching funds in the 2004 presidential election. 

``So my friend in Austin, where Bush is going to win, will
vote for Nader instead of Gore, and I can vote for Gore
here in Wisconsin, where the race is very close,'' said Jeff
Cardille, a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin at
Madison, who first posted the idea on the Internet. 

While the site registered by Cardille only outlines the idea,
Los Angeles resident Jim Cody set up a site that allowed
people to make contact with others who are interested in
the idea. 

Cody's site was started Thursday, and before it was taken
down it had already claimed more than 4,700 traded votes. 

William Wood, chief counsel for the office of the secretary
of state, said yesterday morning that trading for anything
valuable is illegal. 

``In this case, the valuable consideration would be the
 vote itself,'' he said. ``The vote is an inalienable,
fundamental legal concept throughout the country.
Certainly in California, we take that very seriously.'' 

Wood said other states have similar laws, but would not
confirm that California is working with them. 

Representatives of the secretary of state's offices in
Missouri and Texas, two states where there has been a lot
of swapping activity, also said the trading is illegal under
their laws. 

A spokesman for the secretary of state's office, Alfie
Charles, said Cody contacted Wood at about 5:30 p.m.
yesterday to say he would take the site down. 

Cody said last night that he has not decided whether to
pursue the matter. 

``I don't think the people who wrote the law foresaw
anything like this,'' he said. 

Earlier in the day, he said he has maintained e-mail
addresses of everyone involved so that they can be
contacted and told not to proceed. 

``We're requiring people who sign up to make their e-mail
address available,'' he said. ``People can then contact each
other directly. If they decide they don't feel right about it
and don't want to do it, they can come back and say they
have changed their mind.'' 

Charles said the investigation is continuing and could not
say if criminal charges would be pursued. 

Earlier this month, a Web site that offered to buy votes
moved its domain out of the country. An Illinois court
issued an injunction Oct. 18 against the site, which
collects the names of registered voters willing to sell their
votes for president.

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