Polling place at Murray, Arkansas
Photo © 2010 Lisa R. Pruitt
I've thought about vote buying a lot over the course of my life. I'm not talking about how corporations and other affluent actors donate money to campaigns in hopes of swaying legislators' votes, or even lower-scale political patronage type activity. I'm talking about the phenomenon at the individual level in what is arguably its most base and disturbing form: The payment and acceptance of cold hard cash for one's vote in a particular political race or slate of races.
