[EM] Idea for a free web service for (relatively) secure online voting

[Raph Frank]

On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 4:29 AM, Mike Frank
<michael.patrick.frank at gmail.com> wrote:
> And anyway, politicians effectively "buy
> votes" all the time already, whenever they promise certain classes of voters
> goodies such as tax rebates and the like

Just a note, that is actually different from vote buying in a fundamental way.

The problem is that it in your interests to sell your vote even if you
know that the person is going cost you more than he pays if he is
elected.

The is because you are certain to be paid, but the probability of your
vote actually making a difference is tiny.

Gain = payment
Loss = p*(cost of electing the person)

It would be worth accepting $10 to vote for a candidate who is
planning to increase you taxes by $100.