Is it so wrong to sell a vote?

Some good posts on the Cato blog yesterday. This is the first of three.

Dan Mitchell tells of a student's attempt to sell his vote for $10 (as reported here on Fox):

Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder’s preferred candidate. “Good luck!” …Sanders was charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting under an 1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote. According to a criminal complaint, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office learned about the offering on the Web site and told prosecutors. Investigators sent a subpoena to eBay and got information that led to Sanders. “We take it very seriously. Fundamentally, we believe it is wrong to sell your vote,” said John Aiken, a spokesman for the office. “There are people that have died for this country for our right to vote, and to take something that lightly, to say, ‘I can be bought.’

It sounds pretty egregious to be sure, but is it all that different from what is being done already by special-interest groups and politicians? Special-interest groups promise support for a candidate (votes) for legislation favorable to their cause (subsidies, tariffs, barriers to competitor entry, etc). Politicians promise one another support (votes) on a given bill for legislation favorable to their cause -- election (usually in the form of earmarks or campaign cash). For the record, I don't advocate vote selling; I only find its condemnation by politicians hypocritical.