Elon Musk’s latest venture to get people to the polls has been raising some eyebrows. In the lead-up to the election, the tech billionaire announced a $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes in swing states, but could he be breaking the law?
Some legal experts certainly think so: “Though maybe some of the other things Musk was doing were of murky legality, this one is clearly illegal,” Rick Hasen, a University of California, Los Angeles professor, wrote on his personal Election Law Blog.
However, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta recently rejected a request for an injunction to stop the contest and ruled it could continue. So, we examined why it has drawn so much attention.
Why is Elon Musk giving away $1 million per day?
Musk is offering $1 million a day to registered voters in battleground states who sign a “Petition in Favor of Free Speech and the Right to Bear Arms” from his pro-Trump group AmericaPAC. But the giveaway is “exclusively open to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.” Did we mention that supporters only have until Monday, Oct. 21, to sign up?
“We want to make sure that everyone in swing states hears about this, and I suspect this will ensure they do,” he wrote on X.
Every day, from now through Nov 5, @America PAC will be giving away $1M to someone in swing states who signed our petition to support free speech & the right to bear arms!
We want to make sure that everyone in swing states hears about this and I suspect this will ensure they do.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2024
Musk kicked off his million-dollar giveaway at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 19 by handing a lottery-style check to a man in the audience named John Dreher. “The only thing we ask for the million dollars is that you be a spokesperson for the petition,” he told him.
Dreher was just one of the many attendees who signed Musk’s petition that night. “The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms,” it reads. “By signing below, I am pledging my support for the First and Second Amendments.” Those who inked their name also had to share their contact details, potentially allowing AmericaPAC to contact them about their vote. The next winner will be randomly selected from Pittsburgh, followed by one from Pennsylvania, though the America PAC petition didn’t specify where.
It’s not the first time Musk has tried to get people to sign his petition — which has apparently been a struggle. He initially offered $100 to registered Pennsylvania voters who signed up and $47 for swing state voter referrals.
Still, it marks the latest example of the billionaire using his extraordinary deep pockets to sway the election. Since July, Musk has personally given at least $75 million to support Trump’s campaign through his PAC. And there’s a reason he’s zeroing in on swing voters: the 2024 race will likely come down to seven key states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada.
Is Elon Musk’s million-dollar challenge legal?
Foglietta allowed Musk’s payout, though his reasoning remains unclear. But we do know that before the ruling, District Attorney Larry Krasner (a Democrat) alleged that the giveaway violated Pennsylvania’s state election laws and was “designed to actually influence a national election.”
Meanwhile, Musk’s team defended the effort, calling it “core political speech,” given that participants signed a petition endorsing the U.S. Constitution. His lawyers also argued that Krasner’s bid to shut down the giveaway under Pennsylvania law would be moot because there wouldn’t be any more winners after Election Day.
Still in his blog, Hasen questioned the legality of Musk’s $1 million awards, writing that federal law states anyone who “pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
While some argue that Musk’s lottery could potentially fall under an election law loophole because no one is being paid directly to vote, Hasen pushed back against this notion by pointing to the Department of Justice’s Election Crimes Manual.
“The federal statute bans payments not just for voting, but for registering to vote,” he told Katie Couric Media. “This is a lottery open only to registered voters, which the DOJ election crimes manual explains is illegal.”
That said, Hasen adds that paying for turnout in certain elections is legal, citing his home state, California, as a prime example. “I am unaware of anything else like this kind of lucrative giveaway for registering,” he says. “However, in California, in elections where federal candidates are not on the ballot, it is legal to pay for turnout. And there have been giveaways of free stuff, like fast food meals.”
Others have spoken out against Musk’s actions. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro emphasized that while the MAGA donor “obviously has a right to express his views,” he added that law enforcement should open an investigation into his offer to voters.
“I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race. How the dark money is flowing, not just into Pennsylvania but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro told NBC News’s Meet the Press. “That is deeply concerning.”
