What’s Legal, What’s Not: Are ‘Freebies’ for Voting in Texas Okay?
You've probably heard a lot of ads encouraging you to vote lately. With all the noise surrounding election day, you might be surprised to know what is legally allowed when it comes to encouraging people to go to the polls and cast their vote. Many businesses offer incentives such as free drinks, food, and other items if you show them an 'I Voted' sticker on or around election day. Did you know doing that is actually against the law?
Get our free mobile app
According to Title 52 of the U.S. code on voting and elections, it's illegal to pay, offer to pay, or accept a payment for either registering to vote or for voting in a federal election. If a ballot has a president, U.S. senators, or U.S. representatives on it, the election is considered a federal election.
What's the Penalty For Giving Voting Freebies?
In addition to money, it's also against the law to offer any free products or incentives of any kind during a federal election. The November 8th midterm is a federal election, which means any business that offers you something for free in exchange for showing your 'I Voted' sticker is technically violating federal law, because it’s considered an incentive to vote. Yes, this also includes food!
The law says paying, offering to pay, or accepting payment for registration to vote or for voting could result in a fine of up to $10,000, a prison term of up to five years, or both.
How to Make Giveaways Legal
Advocacy group FairVote.org states that there is a way freebies for voting in a federal election can actually be legal. The item or items in question have to be available to both those that vote and nonvoters alike, which some businesses have done. According to KCEN, on Election Day, Krispy Kreme is offering a free donut to anyone stopping by a store, with no proof of voting required.
Bet You Didn't Know: 10 Bizarre Texas Laws Still on the Books
Many states still have strange laws on the books that aren’t enforced or taken seriously anymore, and Texas is no exception.
Most of these laws are just funny now, but at one time, there was a valid (or at least somewhat valid) reason for them to exist.
Texas has plenty of strange rules and regulations that you could technically be prosecuted for if you violate them, since they've never been amended. Some of these are only for specific cities and not state-wide, but all of them are pretty odd!
Let's take a look at 10 of the weirdest ones in the Lone Star State.
Who Are The 5 Richest People in Texas, Not Counting Elon Musk?
There are more billionaires in America than in any other country, according to Stacker. For some people, the money just keeps pouring in, as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is projected to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2026.
However, Bezos is not the world's richest person right now. That title goes to the founder of SpaceX, Tesla, and the new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk. Musk owns a mansion in Austin but says his main home is a $50,000 rental from SpaceX in Boca Chica, Texas.
Forbes lists 63 billionaires in Texas, including Elon Musk. Let's find out who's at the top of the list in the Lone Star State for 2022, right behind Musk.
More From KTEM-AM
