PHOENIX – While the nation’s early politicians offered booze to entice voters, the practice of rewarding people for voting has been forbidden since the days when George Washington won election to the Virginia House of Burgesses with the help of alcohol.

Now, 256 years later, Arizona’s Secretary of State and Attorney General are reminding businesses it is illegal to offer anything of value to someone who has indicated he or she voted in an election.

“While we never want to discourage anyone from voting, it’s important to remind businesses to avoid rewarding people for performing their civic duty,” said Secretary Bennett. “Offering free coffee, hot dogs or anything else is prohibited and they could be found guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor.”

“Our office fielded several calls last election cycle asking if businesses were allowed to ‘reward’ people who had ‘I Voted’ stickers by giving them something such as a free cup of coffee,” said Attorney General Tom Horne. “Although a gesture like that is not tied to voting for a particular candidate or ballot measure, it’s still against Arizona law.”

For the record, George Washington lost his first campaign to a candidate who provided “beer, whiskey, rum punch, and wine” in 1755. According to the book, Founding Spirits: George Washington and the Beginnings of the American Whiskey Industry, our first President subsequently utilized the same strategy and was elected with more than eight times the votes. Cheers to our founding fathers!