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Staff Writer: Gwen Pichette
Email: gpichette@umassd.edu
Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, Tesla, and the richest man in the United States, is currently being scrutinized by legal experts for his questionable use of his wealth to incentivize voters in the upcoming presidential election.
The multi-billionaire, who has already poured a whopping $75 million into Donald Trump’s campaign, is taking things a step further.
Elon Musk has pledged to award a $1 million cash prize every day until November 5th to any random voter who signs his Super PAC petition.
The Super PAC petition pledges support for the First Amendment, freedom of speech, and the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms.
Many are calling into question the legality of these cash prizes—particularly because this offer is only being given in the seven key swing states: Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
This incentive focused on Battleground states means this could tip the scale.
In a nationwide poll from CNN, 47% of voters support Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, and an equal 47% support Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Additionally, to be entered into this $1 million dollar lottery, you can’t merely sign the petition; you also have to be registered to vote.
This is the part of the giveaway that has caused the most concern and accusations of Musk illegally buying Republican votes.
Elon Musk said his organization’s goal is “to get over a million, maybe two million voters in the battleground states to sign the petition.”
Election law experts and state officials question whether this is legal.
One legal expert, Rick Hasen, says no.
He cited a specific statute that states that any person 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.”
Other people are pursuing harsher legal action—like the Democratic district attorney of Philadelphia, Larry Krasner, who is suing Elon Musk’s organization in an attempt to halt the giveaways.
When questioned as to why exactly he was suing the billionaire, Krasner stated that the giveaway violated federal law in an official statement, saying, “The Philadelphia District Attorney is charged with protecting the public from public nuisances and unfair trade practices, including illegal lotteries. The DA is also charged with protecting the public from interference with the integrity of elections.”
This comes just days after the head of the Justice Department’s election crimes bureau sent Musk’s organization a letter. This letter warned that this cash prize could potentially violate statutes that bar people from paying to vote.
While he hasn’t spoken specifically on this lawsuit yet, in response to a social media post claiming that he was unjustly paying to register people as Republicans, Elon Musk alleged that the winners “can be from any or no political party and you don’t even have to vote.”
Yet he did not address the legal issue that you must be registered to vote in the first place to be put in the lottery.
Others, like Fox News reporter Emma Colton, are more focused on the legality of being paid to sign the petition itself. She believes it is “a legal gray zone that appears to be open to interpretation” and “Musk’s giveaway is not enticing voters to register but instead sign a petition.”
Fox also claims that cash incentives to vote are nothing new in presidential elections. There are alleged instances of Democrats providing cash incentives in other keystone states.
Yet election law experts like Derek Muller believe that this case is more serious, considering the massive scale of it. Muller believes that “when you start limiting prizes or giveaways to only registered voters or only people who have voted, that’s where bribery concerns arise. By limiting a giveaway only to registered voters, it looks like you’re giving cash for voter registration.”
John Shapiro, who previously worked as an attorney general is in agreement that something deeper is at play here—corruption: “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. That is deeply concerning.”