Tech billionaire Elon Musk gave a $1 million check to an audience member at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he’s been Trump-stumping, on Saturday. And he said he will continue to give that prize to one random voter per day until the Presidential election on November 5th. The move could very well break US election law.
Only people who have signed a petition from Musk’s America 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, include bonuses for signers and for getting others to sign it.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said on Meet the Press this morning that the offer is “deeply concerning.” He stopped short of calling it illegal, stating that he’s no longer the state’s Attorney General, but said the ploy is “something that law enforcement can take a look at.”
Hasen told NBC News that the fact the petition is only open to registered voters may be what puts it over the top. Federal authorities can either prosecute Musk or warn him to stop the scheme, he said. The US Department of Justice would have to charge him with violating the law in federal court; a federal agency or private party could also file a civil lawsuit.
Either one of these would take time. Musk could be trusting that Trump, who has pardoned allies and is unlikely to let the DOJ punish a major donor, will win and make the legal questions irrelevant. Even if the former President doesn’t win, Musk already has a track record of flouting regulation with few consequences in the US. But conversely, it’s an open question how much Musk’s sweepstakes will help Trump — and whether it can make up for rumored weaknesses in the candidate’s traditional campaign ground game.
