Only people who have signed a petition from Musk’s American PAC are eligible for the sweepstakes-style offer. And only registered voters are eligible to sign the petition. According to its terms, Musk will give $1 million to someone in Pittsburgh today, but will later expand to anyone living in swing states like Georgia, Nevada, or Arizona.
It’s against federal law to impel anyone to vote or get registered to vote and Musk’s $1 million prizes are “clearly illegal,” writes UCLA political science professor Rick Hasen, in his Election Law Blog. He cites 52 USC 10307 (c), which states that anyone who “pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting,” can potentially see $10,000 in fines or five years in prison. There are also other legally dubious aspects of the pledge, includeing bonuses for signers and for getting others to sign it.
Rick Hasen posted on his Election Law Blog the following:
“Elon Musk says on stage at a town hall that American PAC will be awarding $1 million every day until the election to a registered Pennsylvania voter who has signed his petition.
Musk awarded the first $1 million this evening to someone at the town hall, bringing the guy onto the stage and handing him a jumbo check, lotto-style. Musk is essentially incentivizing likely Trump voters in PA to register to vote: Petition is to support for 1A and 2A, so basically R (Republican) voters. But they also have to be registered to vote, so if they weren’t already, they would do it now.”
According to Rick Hasen: Though maybe some of the other things Musk was doing were of murkey legality, this one is clearly illegal. “Whoever knowingly or willfully gives false information as to his name, address or period of residence in the voting district for the purpose of encouraging his false registration to vote or illegal voting, or 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…”
NBC News reported Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday that tech mogul Elon Musk’s plan to give money to registered voters in Pennsylvania is “deeply concerning” and “it’s something that law enforcement could take a look at.”
Shapiro’s comments on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” come one day after Musk announced in Pennsylvania that every day until Election Day, he would give $1 million to a random registered voter who signs a petition circulated by his super PAC, “in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms.”
Shapiro, a Democrat, made clear on Sunday that his political differences with Musk, who has endorsed former President Donald Trump and pledged to use millions of dollars to turn out Pennsylvania voters for the former president via his super PAC, are not driving his skepticism of the cash prizes.
In my opinion, it sounds as though Elon Musk could run into legal trouble if he continues to hold what sounds like an illegitimate “lottery” in specific states. It will be interesting to see whether or not Mr. Musk faces any consequences over this specific shenanigan.