Are Elon Musk's $1 Million Gifts to Voters Legal?

Photo: Michael Swensen/Getty Images

Elon Musk made a series of personal appeals to influence the 2024 election and held a series of town halls across Pennsylvania aimed at reaching out to voters for Donald Trump. During this political tour, the Tesla CEO, who is supporting Donald Trump for president, said he would give away $1 million every day until Election Day to voters who sign a petition issued by his political PAC.

His announcement immediately drew questions from political critics and legal experts who said a giveaway in the final days of election season likely violated election laws. But Musk continued unabated, handing out two oversized checks to Pennsylvania voters in scenes reminiscent of a TV game show. Here's what we know about the potential legal ramifications of Musk's latest move.

At a rally in Harrisburg on Saturday, Musk unveiled his latest attempt to motivate voters ahead of the general election. “I have a surprise for you: We will randomly award $1 million every day from now until the election to people who sign the petition,” Musk announced to applause.

The petition in question is promoted by Musk's America PAC, which the Tesla CEO founded to support Trump's presidential campaign. The signatory must commit to supporting the First and Second Amendments to the Constitution, which govern the right to free speech and the right to bear arms. It is only open to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin or North Carolina, the seven key battleground states. When the petition was first published, Musk initially attracted some attention because he promised to pay supporters $47 per referral of the petition. In Pennsylvania, in particular, Musk offered $100 to voters who signed the petition and increased the referral bonus to that amount through October 21, the last day of voter registration.

Since Monday morning, Musk has issued checks to two people: a man in Harrisburg and a woman in the Pittsburgh area.

Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote on his blog that Musk's promotion was “clearly illegal.” Hasen, who specializes in election law, cited the law 52 USC 10307(c), which states that a person who “pays, offers to do so, or accepts payment to register to vote or to vote shall be liable to a fine of not more than $10,000 or a prison sentence for no more than five years, or both.”

“Basically what you are doing is creating a lottery. “They're creating a lottery where the only people eligible to participate in the lottery are those who are registered to vote or are registered to vote, and that's illegal,” Hasen told NBC News.

Derek Muller, a professor at Notre Dame Law School, said in an interview with CNN that Musk's giveaway, which only focuses on certain groups, raises further legal questions. “When you start limiting prizes or giveaways only to registered voters or only to people who voted, bribery fears arise,” he said. “By limiting the drawing to registered voters, it looks like you’re donating cash to voter registration.”

However, other experts believe the situation is not so clear. Brad Smith, the former head of the Federal Election Commission, called the giveaways “something of a gray area” in an interview with the New York. Just. “He doesn’t pay them to register to vote. He pays them to sign a petition – and he wants only registered voters to sign the petition. So I think he’ll do well here,” he said.

In an interview on Sunday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who once served as attorney general, called Musk's giveaways “deeply troubling” and said it was “something law enforcement could look at.”

“Worrying that he would say something like that,” Musk responded to X, sharing the clip of Shapiro's interview.

Although questions remain about the legality of Musk's latest idea, it's likely that the Tesla CEO can move forward with the giveaways. As of Monday, the FEC has not made any official comment on the action.