Update: Votes for sale on eBay

POSTED: Thursday 7 April, 1230BST

Yesterday the Election Monitor reported that three UK voters were offering their vote for auction on eBay - something which is against the law.

Full blog entry

EBay has now confirmed that those auctions have been removed from its site, but when we spoke to them this morning, three further votes had been added.

One seller, who had received 16 bids for his vote and a price at the time of writing of £10.50, said: "May 5. For me just another day. At the age of 25 I've never voted. So can you make it worth my while?"

A spokeswoman for eBay said as offering votes for sale is an offence, any auctions brought to their attention would be removed. She said the firm would be keeping a close eye on things.

Your comments

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You only need to watch parliamentary coverage on TV to see what a bunch of childish yobs politicians really are. They're all untrustworthy liars in my opinion and I'm not going to waste my time voting for people who will completely ignore my values and do their own thing anyway. I'm 27, so I guess I fall into the "GenX" category. I'm apathetic because I can see through their blatant facade and don't trust them as far as I can throw them. Selling votes is a top idea as far as I'm concerned!
John, St. Albans, England

That almost makes me care about this election. Almost, but not quite.
Scott Lamb, Enfield, UK

It may seem trivial but selling your vote should not be allowed, any more than sellign yourself into slavery. Did someone really write here "The free market is the best form of democracy. "??? What naive rubbish. In this sense the free market is simply about exploitation and anarchy.
alex, London Uk

American political parties have been selling their vote to the businesses with the biggest cheque books for years. So why complain when a hadful of British voters do the same? That's the free market!
John Mycroft, Asheville, NC, USA

The solution to voter apathy?... send them to North Korea, Cuba, or China for a while - they'd soon realise the value of the votes they show such contempt for.
IRG, London, United Kingdom

Could someone remind me which law is being contravened by an individual elector auctioning their vote on the internet? I'm not saying auctioning one's vote is right, but where is it defined as being illegal?
Adam Smith, London

Well ebay aren't keeping a close eye on this as there are still a number of low lifes selling their votes on there now. There really aren't words to describe these people.
Dawn , Holmfirth

I always thought that the vote buying legislation was to stop party officials from buying votes - I didn't think it was to stop individuals from making a few pence. Morally and economically, how does selling one's vote differ from giving a party a donation?
Roger, Worceter UK