You can trade influence in the trade screen already. So you can already wheel and deal votes.

What really needs to be added is trading of votes and items during voting of bills. There should also be a list of when each race gets to push a bill up for voting and a list of bills for us to choose from for when we get to push a bill up for voting. Items should include swapping of when you get to push the next bill up for voting for another NPC's position and just straight selling of your slot on the bill list. Espionage will tell a player what a race is currently thinking of putting up for a vote as well. Espionage and diplomacy should tell a player the likely hood of a race selling votes. Also a player should be able to group with NPC's and agree that X is too powerful to win a vote so how about we all see to it that Y, the weakest race, should win. After all we all know we want it and would never let the other guy get it, but since someone has to get it, it is best that either I or someone who is very weak gets it. And to determine who we think is weak we need to be able to access our espionage info during voting. And finally, as each race votes that doesn't have a hope of winning, they should be asking the 2 or 3 leading winners if they would like to buy there vote as they vote.

Ok, that is a bit of rambling of various ideas that have been in my head about the GC. Some of them conflict and thus shouldn't be put in if the other is. But there is so much more the GC should be doing then being the random event it currently is and I would love to see ppl talking about how it could be made Oh so much better.

Hopefully the UP voting is addressed in all the new AI coding that's gone in this week, but I agree that there really needs to be some way to influence other races votes on issues, and it would even be nice to know the voting issue a week or two in advance of the vote.

Another option:
-At the start of a month, the voting issue is put forth. You get the options and the info. You the vote itself however isn't handled until the end of the month (3 turns hence).
-During those three turns, you have a trade option with other races that lists the UP voting item.
-Much like the "Attack" option in the trade/diplomacy window, when you click on it, you are presented with a minor window that lists the actual vote options.
-You have to offer up influence, tech, money etc in order to get the race to accept (or perhaps just intimidate them if you're powerful enough)

It would make the UP a lot more dynamic and fun in the game. As it stands now it's just a way for the most powerful player to give themselves bonuses.