In a dig at former President Donald Trump on Saturday, tech billionaire Elon Musk announced he would be giving away $1 million a day to registered voters in battleground states, prompting immediate interest from election law experts who said sweepstakes may violate laws prohibiting paying people to register.
“We want to try to get over a million, maybe 2 million, voters in battleground states to sign a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments. … We will randomly award $1 million every day until the election to people who sign the petition.” Musk said during a campaign event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Owner X and Tesla CEO referenced a petition launched by his political action committee affirming support for the right to free speech and bear arms. The website, launched shortly before some registration deadlines, states: “This program is open only to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, has given more than $75 million to his pro-Trump super PAC and has expressed hope that the lotteries will increase registration among Trump voters. He recently hit the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, organizing pro-Trump events, promoting his petition and spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
“This is a one-time request,” Musk told the audience shortly after announcing the $1 million prize. “Just go out and talk to your friends, family, acquaintances and people you meet on the street and… convince them to vote. Of course, you have to register, make sure they are registered and… make sure they vote.”
The first million-dollar winner was announced on Saturday, and Musk presented the Trump supporter with a giant check at his event in Harrisburg, saying, “Anyway, you’re welcome.” He announced the second winner Sunday afternoon at an event in Pittsburgh, handing out another check on a stage decorated with large signs reading “VOTE EARLY.”
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Musk’s handout was “deeply disturbing” and “something law enforcement can look into.” Shapiro, a Democrat, previously served as the state’s attorney general.
Federal law criminalizes anyone who “pays, offers payment, or accepts payment for registering to vote or for voting.” This is punishable by up to five years in prison. Following legal protests over the weekend, Musk’s group improved some of the lottery language.
“When you start limiting rewards or gifts to only registered voters or only to people who voted, there are concerns about bribery,” said Derek Muller, an election law expert who teaches at Notre Dame Law School. “By limiting the giveaway to only registered voters, it looks like you are donating cash to voter registration.”
Offering money to people who were already registered before the cash prize was announced could violate federal law, Muller said, but the offer “may also extend to people who are not already registered,” and the potential “incentives for new registrations are much more problematic.” “
In most states, it is only a crime to pay people to vote, said Muller, who is also a CNN contributor. He said federal prosecutors rarely bring election bribery cases and that the Supreme Court is narrowing the scope of bribery statutes.
Regardless of the long odds of Musk being impeached, other respected election law experts have strongly condemned the billionaire’s behavior.
“It’s not a particularly close case — that’s what the bill was designed to criminalize,” said David Becker, a former Justice Department official who handled voting rights cases and founder of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research.
Becker said that the prize is only available to registered voters “in one of seven swing states that could influence the outcome of the presidential election” is strong evidence of Musk’s intention to influence the race, which could be legally problematic.
“This offer was made in the final days before certain registration deadlines,” Becker said, confirming the impression that the cash prizes are intended to speed up registration.
Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UCLA Law School and a Trump critic, wrote in a blog post that Musk’s sweepstakes were “clearly illegal vote buying.” He stressed that the Justice Department’s voting crimes manual clearly states that it is illegal to offer “lottery chances” that are “intended to induce or reward” activities such as voter registration.
In a social media post late Sunday evening, the Musk-backed group rephrased the giveaway as a job opportunity, saying winners “will be selected to earn $1 million as an America PAC spokesperson.” The two winners selected over the weekend appeared in promotional videos on the super PAC account on X, formerly Twitter.
Both Muller and Becker said this distinction likely did not have much impact on the potential illegality of the program. The fine print on the super PAC’s website has not changed as of Monday morning, and the lottery is still offered only to registered voters, they noted.
Another top Democratic official, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, sharply criticized Musk on Saturday for “spreading dangerous disinformation” about the accuracy of voter rolls after he falsely claimed there were more voters than citizens in the state.
This story has been updated with additional events.
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