Ethics Newsline®

“With the attendant publicity that’s emerged over the last few years, there is an ethical question raised that some candidates don’t want to be associated with.”

– Dr. Jerry Polinard, a political science professor at the University of Texas-Pan American, talking to the New York Times about the practice of paying people to round up votes for primaries and other elections. Defenders of the practice — called paying “street money” — say it’s simply a traditional part of getting out the vote. Critics say it smacks of buying votes, with canvassers negotiating with “rival campaigns to get the best price before deciding whom to support,” notes the Times.

Source: New York Times, May 13.