What If...

...you could legally sell your vote to the highest bidder?

Both in primary elections and State/National elections?

You could set up a system for registered voters to accept bids, with the winning bid getting a guaranteed, certified vote from the voter.

Would "safe" gerrymandered seats remain safe? I doubt it.

Would you vote against your principles if the payoff was high enough? (the old punchline "We already agree what you are, now we're just haggling" comes to mind)

The way it would work best is if the result of pre-sold votes was made public knowledge, because then each political party would know how many votes it would still have to purchase; price of votes would work on the free market principle, being determined by the supply of eligible voters and demand for votes/victories.

Would you have voter apathy and refusal to participate in the civic duty of voting under such a system? I doubt it. You'd probably have close to 100% participation.

How high could payments for votes go? $50? $500? $5000? Higher?

And, just to have an incentive for the government to do this, imagine an instant 5% tax assessment when you cast your vote. "Wait a minute, that's a poll tax!" some dumbass might say. Well, no. It's a tax on money you have been paid for voting, not a tax that deters you from voting.

How about some commentary, here. I don't often come up with brainstorms like this, and I'd like some feedback.