Washington CNN –
While running for former President Donald Trump on Saturday, tech billionaire Elon Musk announced he would donate $1 million a day to registered voters in hotly contested states, immediately drawing scrutiny from election law experts who said the lottery could violate laws against paying people to register. .
“We want to try to mobilize more than a million, maybe two million voters in battleground states to sign the petition supporting the First and Second Amendments. “We will randomly give $1 million to people who sign the petition, every day, from now until the election,” Musk said at a campaign event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The X owner and Tesla CEO was referring to a petition launched by his political action committee asserting support for the right to free speech and to bear arms. “This program is open exclusively to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina,” says the website, which launched shortly before registration deadlines.
Musk, the world’s richest man, has donated more than $75 million to a pro-Trump political action committee and said he hopes the lottery will boost registration among Trump voters. He recently campaigned in Pennsylvania, holding pro-Trump events, promoting his petition and spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
“This is a one-time question,” Musk told the crowd shortly after announcing the $1 million prize. “Just go out there and talk to your friends, family, acquaintances, people you meet on the street and… convince them to vote. Obviously you have to register, make sure they’re registered and…make sure they vote.
The first $1 million winner was announced on Saturday, with Musk handing a huge check to a Trump supporter at his event in Harrisburg, saying: “Anyway, you’re welcome.” The second winner was announced Sunday afternoon during an event in Pittsburgh, where he handed out another check on a stage decorated with large signs reading “Vote Early.”
In an interview Sunday with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Musk’s giveaway was “deeply concerning” and “something law enforcement could take a look at.” Shapiro, a Democrat, previously served as the state’s attorney general. In response to Shapiro’s statements, Musk said: to publish On X it was “concerning that he would say such a thing.”
Federal law makes it a crime for anyone who “pays, offers to pay, or accepts payment in exchange for either registering to vote or voting.” It is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years. After legal protests over the weekend, Musk’s group modified some of their language around the lottery.
“When you start limiting awards or giveaways to only registered voters or only people who cast ballots, that’s where bribery concerns arise,” said Derek Mueller, an election law expert who teaches at Notre Dame Law School. “By limiting the giveaway to registered voters only, you appear to be giving away money for voter registration.”
Offering money to people who have already registered before the cash prize is announced could violate federal law, Mueller said, but the offer also “could extend to people who have not yet registered,” and “potential incentives for new registrations are much more problematic.” ”
Mueller, a CNN contributor, said most states make it a crime just to pay people to vote. He said it is rare for federal prosecutors to bring election bribery cases, and that the Supreme Court is working to narrow the scope of bribery laws.
Regardless of the long odds of Musk being prosecuted, other respected election law experts have strongly condemned the billionaire’s behavior.
“This is not a particularly close case — this is exactly what the law is designed to criminalize,” said David Pecker, a former Justice Department official who handles voting rights issues and founder of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research.
Baker said the fact that the award is only available to registered voters “in one of the seven swing states that could affect the outcome of the presidential election” is strong evidence of Musk’s intent to influence the race, which could be problematic legally.
“This offer was made in the final days before some of the registration deadlines,” Baker said, reinforcing the appearance that the cash prizes are designed to increase registration.
Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UCLA School of Law and a Trump critic, said in a blog post that Musk’s sweepstakes were “clearly illegal vote buying.” He noted that the Department of Justice’s Electoral Crimes Manual specifically states that it is illegal to offer “lottery opportunities” that are “purported to induce or reward” actions such as voter registration.
In a social media post late Sunday night, the Musk-backed group recast the giveaway as a business opportunity, saying winners “will be selected to earn $1 million as a spokesperson for America PAC.” The two winners selected over the weekend appeared in promotional videos on the Super PAC’s account on X, formerly Twitter.
Both Mueller and Baker said the discrimination likely had little impact on the program’s potential illegality. They noted that the fine print on the Super PAC’s website had not changed as of Monday morning, and the lottery was still only being offered to registered voters.
Another top Democratic official, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, criticized Musk on Saturday for “spreading dangerous misinformation” about the integrity of voter rolls after he falsely claimed there were more voters than citizens in the state.
This story has been updated with additional reactions and developments.
