Paying for my Vote

Parliament is trying to pass a bill to make it illegal for persons to show their ballots. Apparently, the trend is for persons to "buy a vote". Apparently, what has been happening for years is that persons buy votes. So, you give me some money, i go into the ballot booth and you watch me place my X in the desired spot.

I've worked polling stations before, and it happens. People go into the booth together, or they carry out their ballots to show the world, as far as i was concerned at the time, there was nothing wrong with it and apparently i was right. In any case, there has been some talk about it, saying that it is an unnecessary bill. Some persons make it seem as though its absurd that anybody would sell their vote. These however are the persons who have a different state of reality than the persons out there who would never find them self in such a situation. These are the persons who: have their 9-5 jobs, and drive reliable cars, can pay their bills, feel their children and send them to reputable schools. These are the persons who would not understand, it seems, the benefit of a few not so hard earned thousand dollars.

It's not such a difficult concept to wrap your head around. Imagine for a minute, someone who has a vote, but who does not plan to exercise their right to vote, being approached by someone, willing to offer a couple thousand dollars for you to put on a pair of flip flops, t-shirt and pants, walk down the street, place your X beside the bell or the head, dip your finger in some ink, skew the election results by one vote, walk back to your house and go back to things as normal. Simple right, quite so. I find it hard to cast a judgmental eye towards someone who takes up such an opportunity. Money, although available, is not easily acquired, and why not, if in an instant, you can, without breaking any laws, earn a little extra.