Price of votes lags behind inflation.

local6.com - News - Man Accused Of Trying To Sell Vote :
"'I think the minimum bid was $25. Our right to vote was bought by the blood of our veterans and it's priceless,' prosecutor Page Bellamy said."

Years ago I read that around 1900 Italians in one of the New England states were getting $5 for their votes while WASPs only got $3. This sometimes led to bad blood and fisticuffs at polling places, but there was a good reason for the difference. Those doing the buying considered the Italians more honest than the WASPs and less likely to pocket the money and vote the other way.

Allowing for inflation, a vote ought to be worth more than $25 now. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis' inflation calculator, the CPI shows one dollar's worth of goods in 1913 should now cost $19.12; so a $3 WASP vote ought to be worth about $60 now.