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BUYING VOTES

Getting and spending; spending and getting. American politics, and Presidential politics in particular, have turned into an orgy of money probably not seen even in the most decadent days of the Roman Empire. The truly quaint feature is that the voters are the only virgins left at the orgy. The fat cat contributors get access (we know what that means), the politicians get the money to run their campaigns, the media-mostly TV gets hundreds of millions in revenue, and the voters get nothing. It wasn't always this way.

Many years ago, as a little tyke, I first accompanied my parents to the polls. My father explained that people were buying and selling votes and pointed them out. A large farm truck was unloading a motley crew, who lined up and marched into the polling place. Another group of ne'er-do-wells was being loaded into a second truck. As the last man scampered up, the overseer handed up a Mason jar of white lightening. My father remarked that by sunset all of these men would have voted in every precinct in town and be dead drunk.

Not all bought voters were so obvious. Others people could be seen approaching nearby parked autos, where each was given a piece of paper which he or she tucked into their clothing. It was a marked ballot. Once in the polling booth, the marked ballot would be exchanged for the fresh ballot supplied at the registration table. The marked ballot having been deposited in the ballot box, the voter would exit and head for the automobile where he would exchange the fresh ballot for a few dollars.

While such blatant buying of votes is not likely to be seen today, no one can deny that money still buys elections. Open cash payment for votes is illegal and would be considered unethical by almost everyone. Yet, few people have a problem with the politicians who pay media spinmeisters to manipulate the voters. Why is paying a third party to deliver a vote perfectly acceptable? A vote has been bought. The seller just didn't get the money.

I propose that we eliminate the middleman and cure the hypocrisy. Such a system would be simple to operate and would offer many advantages

Rather than an election day, we could set aside a month for voting. Rather than a conventional ballot, the voter would receive a book of votes resembling traveler's checks Each page would be a vote for a particular office from president to dog catcher. The voter would sign the top signature lines upon accepting the booklet. He could then countersign the vote when

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