Frustrated  with the state’s government, one Independent activist in Utah has taken  a novel approach to dealing with his representatives in the  legislature: he’s put them up for sale online.

Bidding  opened early last Friday on an eBay auction for Utah State Sen. Jerry  Stevenson.  The seller was Randy Miller, founder and president of the Utah League of Independent Voters.   Judging from the original listing, which has since been deleted by  eBay, Miller was not confident that he would find a buyer.  Indeed, he  even warned: “Buyer beware. This toy is broken. I wish it would be  recalled. It is a representative that does not represent.”  The opening  price for Sen. Stevenson was just one penny, and the seller stated that  he would even consider a simple trade for a representative that  represents the people of its district rather than the interests of its  party.

The  occasion for the sale was the conclusion of Utah’s 2011 legislative  session.  As Miller wrote in the listing, he decided to sell Stevenson  because of the Senator’s votes in support of bills that would prohibit  the use of electronic signatures on voter petition drives, restrict  access to the electronic correspondence of the legislature and governor,  place the state school board under the direct control of the governor’s  office and raise the sales tax on food, among other things.

Contacted  via email, the ULiV president emphasized the disconnect between the  Utah Republican Party and the state’s Independent voters.  In 2009-2010,  Independents accounted for over 51% of the state’s registered voters,  far outpacing Utah Republicans, who comprised only 39% of the  electorate, as reported at Ballot Access News.   According to Miller, 73% of Utah residents support an independent  redistricting committee, but the legislature refuses to even consider  the measure.  He also stressed the ruling party’s opposition to  non-partisan elections.

“There were multiple bills this year to move to  partisan elections for state school board positions while 78% of Utahns  favor direct non-partisan popular elections for those positions,” he  said.

By  Friday afternoon, word of the auction began spreading in local media,  the Independent blogosphere and on Twitter. Before eBay deleted the  listing, it had received hundreds of views, and 19 bids had been placed  for State Sen. Stevenson. The highest bid was for $305.  Encouraged,  Miller added a listing for his State Representative, Brad Wilson, in a  parallel Dutch-style auction.  Of course, Miller had no intention of  “selling” the Senator or the Representative.  As he wrote in the  listing, all proceeds would be used to support and expand outreach  efforts for the Utah League of Independent Voters.  In that regard, the  media stunt was a great success.  Miller says he received pledges  totaling almost $1000, and there is now a movement to transform ULiV into  an officially recognized political action committee.

According to a report at Deseret News,  Sen. Stevenson was heartily amused by Miller’s auction, saying:

“Well,  let's see how much I'm worth."  He added, “It's very surprising how many  folks … if you don’t vote the way they think you should vote, they  think someone has purchased you."

From this response, it is not  entirely clear whether Stevenson grasped the precise character of  Miller’s act.  The auction does indeed bring to mind the widely-held  belief that our elected representatives are bought and paid for by the  highest bidder.  But the critique implied by Miller’s act is more subtle  than this.  It is not that “they think someone has purchased you  because you don’t vote the way they think you should vote.”  Rather, in  the present case, because you don’t vote the way they think you should  vote, they want to sell you along with some other junk they want to get  rid of around the house, but they’re not confident anyone would actually  want to pay for what you deliver.

EBay  was certainly not comfortable with the listing.  Miller says they  suspended his account for one year for “selling Human Body Parts and  Remains.”  He expressed surprise that they would not “terminate the  account permanently” in the case of such an apparently egregious act.   Undeterred, Miller has put Sen. Stevenson back up for sale at boocoo.com, an eBay rival. This time though, he’s added an important  disclaimer:

“You do not actually get Jerry Stevenson or any part of him  or any other human body part.  What you get is peace of mind from  making Utah a better place!”