Max Sanders, a 19-year-old student at the University of Minnesota, thought it would be funny to sell his vote on the popular online auction Web site eBay. The undecided voter said for a minimum of $10 he would vote however the buyer wanted. He got no bids.

The Minnesota secretary of state’s office did not think this was funny. A fundamental aspect of U.S. elections is that Americans have the right to cast one vote – and only one vote- free of coercion. According to an 1893 Minnesota law, it is a felony to buy or sell a vote.

“We take it very seriously. Fundamentally, we believe it is wrong to sell your vote,” John Aiken, director of communications for the Minnesota secretary of state’s office told the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. “There are people that have died for this country for our right to vote, and to take something that lightly … it’s a real shame.”

Sanders could face up to five years in prison or a $10,000 fine.