A California man is raising eyebrows for comments he made about the upcoming primary.
The man, who simply goes by Jon, says he was paid to vote for a particular candidate in the past, and now he is seeing similar offers pop up on the “dark web”.
It was in a college course called “ethical hacking” that Jon says he learned what people were buying and selling votes.
“I sold my vote for $1400,” he admits.
Jon says he didn’t have a big interest in politics, but did need the money.
“I mean money talks,” he says. “$1400 it was a new Macbook Pro for school.”
He met the vote-buyer at a Sacramento Starbucks. The man watched him fill out his absentee ballot.
“You fill it out, and he says ‘I want Obama’ and you check it off and you take it together and mail it,” he explains.
Buying and selling votes is a felony punishable by 16 months up to three years in prison. Jon says he’s not proud of his decision, but doesn’t regret it either. He’s checked out the going rate for votes in this year’s contentious election.
“I didn’t see too much for Bernie, I saw a lot of Hillary, Trump’s the most popular candidate to get ballots bought,” he says. “They’re going for $400 a piece.”
Still, Jon says his vote this year has no price tag.
“This is the first time I’m going to vote for someone who I’ve done research and I think will make a difference,” he says. “I’m going to feel good about it I feel like it’s my first vote for myself.”