Does Musk's $1 Million Daily Donation Constitute Election Interference? | Election News

Billionaire Elon Musk has pledged to give away $1 million every day until Election Day in the United States on November 5 to randomly selected registered voters who sign a petition to “Support the Constitution,” endorsed by his Donald Trump America Political Action Committee (PAC) was launched. .

Musk announced the giveaway on Saturday at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, hosted by America PAC.

The plan has been scrutinized by legal experts as well as Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who on Sunday called on law enforcement to launch an investigation into possible election interference.

Learn more about Musk's giveaway here:

Why is Elon Musk giving away money?

From October 17 to November 5, Musk said he would donate $1 million to a randomly selected winner every day if:

• He or she is a registered voter.
• He or she comes from one of the following swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin or North Carolina.
• He or she signed an online petition created by America PAC.

The 53-year-old Musk – founder and CEO of electric car company Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX and owner of the social media network X – has a net worth of $274.4 billion, according to Forbes' real-time billionaires list.

What does the America PAC petition say?

Musk has repeatedly referred to the petition as one that “upholds the U.S. Constitution.”

More specifically, the petition on a webpage on the America PAC website states: “The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. By signing, I affirm my support for the First and Second Amendments.”

The website reads “EARN 1,000,000” in big, bold letters, flanked by two wallet emojis. Persons signing must provide their first and last name, email address and mobile phone number.

Next to the cell phone number field on the form, it says that the number is only needed to confirm that the petition signer is a legitimate voter and has “no other purpose.”

“Our goal is to get 1 million registered voters in swing states to support the Constitution,” the website added.

On Friday, a day before the sweepstakes announcement, Reuters reported that Alysia McMillan, who has campaigned for America PAC in Wisconsin, said field organizers reported missing their daily targets for turning out voters and would have expected not to achieve this. Their ultimate goal is to reach 450,000 voters by election day.

In Pennsylvania, each registered voter who signs the petition will automatically receive $100 in compensation, and an additional $100 will be paid for each person who signs their remittance. In other swing states, individuals receive $47 per successful referral.

The date the petition was created and the number of signatures collected so far were not visible on the America PAC website.

What is America PAC?

PACs raise and spend money to advocate for or against a candidate in an election. Musk founded America PAC in May to support former President Trump's election bid this year. On October 16, it was reported that Musk had poured $75 million into America PAC within three months.

Originally from South Africa, Musk received US citizenship in 2002. For years he voted for Democratic Party candidates.

However, the relationship between Musk and Democrats has deteriorated during President Joe Biden's term. Musk didn't immediately become a Trump supporter. Instead, he threw his weight behind one of Trump's competitors for the Republican presidential nomination, Ron DeSantis, in 2022.

Trump has a checkered history with X, formerly known as Twitter. His tweets regularly made headlines in the run-up to his first presidential campaign in 2016, which he won. He was banned from X on January 8, 2021, two days after the US Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters over the results of the 2020 election, which Biden won.

However, Musk bought Twitter in October 2022. The next month, Trump's account was restored.

After an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, Musk released

Musk attended a Trump rally on October 5 wearing a black hat emblazoned with “Make America Great Again” (MAGA), Trump’s campaign slogan.

Why did Musk introduce this pricing system?

Musk said the reason he was giving away the money was to bring more attention to the America PAC petition.

“The old media won’t cover it. Not everyone is on X,” he said in a video of the Harrisburg rally posted to America PAC’s X account. “I think this message will really hit home.”

“You don’t even have to vote, you just have to sign a petition,” Musk said in another video posted to the same account.

Is Musk's $1 Million Plan Legal?

According to a document released by the US Department of Justice in December 2017, paying someone “to register to vote or to vote” is a federal crime. It adds that this payment does not have to be money; another payment valuables such as alcohol or lottery tickets.

Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance attorney, told The Associated Press that Musk's giveaways hit a legal limit. That's because the PAC requires registration as a condition of eligibility for the $1 million prize.

“There would be little doubt about the legality if every Pennsylvania resident were eligible to sign the petition, but tying payment to registration arguably violates the law,” Fischer told the news outlet.

“It's not quite the same as paying someone to vote, but it's close enough that we're concerned about the legality of it,” said Michael Kang, a professor of election law at the Pritzker School of Law from Northwestern University, told AP.

“Although some of the other things Musk did may have had unclear legality, this one is clearly illegal,” Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote in a blog post Saturday.

In an interview with NBC television's “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Shapiro said Musk's plan was “deeply concerning” and something law enforcement should look into.

“Musk obviously has the right to express his views. He's made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump. I don't. Obviously we have different opinions,” Shapiro said on Meet the Press.

“I don't deny him that, right, but when you start pouring so much money into politics, I think it raises serious questions,” he added.

Has Musk already paid out money?

Since the tech billionaire's announcement, Musk's plan has already had two recipients.

On Saturday, Musk announced the first winner, shortly after announcing the plan at the rally.

The winner, a man in a red MAGA hat named John Dreher, scurried through a roaring crowd toward the stage, his fists whipping through the air.

“John had no idea, by the way,” Musk announced, handing a check to an enthusiastic spinner as a U.S. flag appeared on a screen behind them.

On Sunday, Musk announced the second $1 million winner, a woman named Kristine Fishell. Fishell donned a red shirt with a slogan for Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, and crossed his hands over his face in disbelief.

Two $1 MILLION checks were issued to voters for signing our petition in support of the Constitution.

A registered swing state voter who signs the petition will be selected to earn $1 million a day as an America PAC spokesperson through Election Day.

CHARACTERS: https://t.co/TMeyWUhbrH pic.twitter.com/q1hlauy245

– America (@america) October 21, 2024