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Musk is giving some US voters $1m. Is it legal?

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Elon Musk speaks at a town hall in Pennsylvania.

Sam Cabral, James FitzGerald and Jake Horton
BBC News

21 October 2024
Updated 22 October 2024

A group of 11 former Republican officials have become the latest public figures to raise questions over the legality of cash incentives being offered by tech billionaire Elon Musk to voters before the US.

A group of 11 former Republican officials have become the latest public figures to raise questions over the legality of cash incentives being offered by tech billionaire Elon Musk to voters before the US election on 5 November.

Mr Musk’s campaign group America PAC, which was set up to support Donald Trump in the presidential contest, calls on registered voters in seven swing states to sign a petition. Each day until the election, one signatory is selected at random and awarded a million-dollar prize.

But legal experts and several Democrats have suggested the giveaway may break American law by offering money for an act that requires someone to be signed up as a voter.

The US Justice Department has confirmed to BBC's US partner, CBS News, that they have received the request from former Republican officials and officeholders urging an investigation into Mr Musk's financial incentives to voters.

Mr Musk has pushed back against the criticism, saying "You can be from any or no political party and you don’t even have to vote" in order to sign the petition.

What is Musk offering?

The petition created by America PAC encourages voters in six swing states - Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina - to sign a "petition in favour of free speech and the right to bear arms".

Those who refer another voter who signs up are promised a sum of $47 (£36) each.

Higher sums of $100 for signing or referring are offered in Pennsylvania, the battleground state that both the Trump and Harris campaigns believe could potentially decide the race's eventual victor.

America PAC says those who sign the petition are signalling their support for the First and Second amendments of the US Constitution.

Each day until polling day on 5 November, a $1m prize will be randomly awarded to any signatory in one of the seven swing states.

The first lottery-style jumbo cheque was handed out to a surprised attendee at a town hall event in Pennsylvania on 19 October.

Is it legal?

"I believe [Elon] Musk's offer is likely illegal," said Paul Schiff Berman, the Walter S. Cox professor of law at the George Washington University.

He pointed to the US Code on electoral law, which states that anyone who "pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting" faces a potential $10,000 fine or a five-year prison sentence.

"His offer is only open to registered voters, so I think his offer runs afoul of this provision," Mr Berman told the BBC.

The US Department of Justice declined to comment. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has been approached for comment.

The strategy may be covered by a loophole, because no-one is being directly paid to register or vote, a former chairman of the FEC suggested.

Brad Smith told the New York Times the giveaway was “something of a grey area” but “not that close to the line.”

“He’s not paying them to register to vote. He’s paying them to sign a petition - and he wants only people who are registered to vote to sign the petition. So I think he comes out OK here,” he said.

But an election law professor at Northwestern University told the BBC that the context is important.

"I understand some analysis that it’s not illegal, but I think here combined with the context it’s clearly designed to induce people to register to vote in a way that is legally problematic," Michael Kang said.

Adav Noti of the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center said Mr Musk's scheme "violates federal law and is subject to civil or criminal enforcement by the Department of Justice".

"It is illegal to give out money on the condition that recipients register as voters," Mr Noti told the BBC.

Constitutional law professor Jeremy Paul, with Northeastern University School of Law, said in an email to the BBC that Mr Musk is taking advantage of a legal loophole.

He said that, while there is an argument that the offer could be illegal, it is “targeted and designed to get around what’s supposed to be the law" and he believes the case would be difficult to make in court.

What have critics said?

Eleven attorneys and public officials who have served in Republican administrations penned a letter on Tuesday urging the Department of Justice to investigate Mr Musk's offer.

"We are aware of nothing like this in modern political history," they wrote, pointing to potential violations in federal and state law.

"Law enforcement agencies are appropriately reluctant to take action shortly before elections that could affect how people vote. But serious questions arising under laws that directly regulate the voting process must be an exception."

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, described the move as "deeply concerning" and called for law enforcement agencies to investigate.

In response, Mr Musk said it was "concerning that he would say such a thing".

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban, who has campaigned in recent weeks for Kamala Harris, said the offer was both "innovative and desperate".

"You only do that because you think you have to, but using a sweepstake is not a bad idea. Whether or not it will work is another whole thing. It could just as easily backfire," he told CNBC.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said that, while Mr Musk was "potentially" breaking the law, she found it "unnerving that somebody would try to manipulate the election in this way".

Is there a precedent?

Mr Musk has argued that Democrats and their donors have funded similar initiatives in the past.

On X, he shared a post which said the boss of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg “did the same thing in 2020”.

Mr Zuckerberg donated $400m in the 2020 election - but this was given to two non-partisan organisations to help with the logistics around postal ballots. It was not given directly to voters.

The Democratic Party has invested in initiatives in the past elections to mobilise supporters, such as a $25m voter registration campaign in the 2022 US midterm elections.

However, this money also was not given directly to voters. The funding went toward initiatives that encouraged voters to register, such as employing people to knock on doors and television and digital advertising.

“It’s legal to pay people to go out to register voters, but you can’t pay people directly to register,” said Prof Kang.

What else has Musk done?

The world's richest man had an uneven relationship with Trump when Trump was president, but Mr Musk increasingly has voiced his displeasure with Democrats in recent years.

Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, he announced that he had left the party and encouraged his followers to vote Republican.

This year, he has involved himself in American politics like never before, making donations and supportive social media posts on behalf of several Republicans.

In comments last week, he described much of the US-Mexico border as tantamount to the film World War Z.

Mr Musk launched America PAC in July with the aim of supporting Trump's 2024 campaign for president. He has so far donated at least $75m to the group.

America PAC's website says it wants "secure borders", "safe cities", "free speech", "sensible spending", a "fair justice system" and "self-protection".

Trump said on Sunday that he had not followed Mr Musk's giveaway, but described him as a friend.

In recent weeks, Mr Musk has appeared on the campaign trail for the first time, first by Trump's side and more recently in town hall appearances by himself.

Justice Department Says It Has Received Complaints About Elon Musk’s $1 Million Payments to Voters

By Lucas Ropek
Published October 22, 2024

Is the tech billionaire breaking the law? We may soon find out.

Despite the fact that, in the U.S., it is illegal to pay someone to vote, not vote, or register to vote, Elon Musk has been making it rain on the American electorate. It all started approximately two weeks ago when the billionaire began offering registered voters in swing states payments of $47. What for? To recruit other voters to sign a vague petition “to support the Constitution.” Nothing wrong with that, right? Well, except for the fact that we’re in the middle of a fraught presidential election and Musk has been doing everything in his power to get one candidate (Donald Trump) elected. Getting elected requires voters and, to vote, you need to be registered to vote. Given this context, some might argue (and have argued) that Musk is financially incentivizing voter registration in swing states.

Not long after his initial $47 offering, Musk upped the payment to $100. Then, several days ago, Musk escalated things drastically. He announced that, every single day until the election, he will give away a million dollars to a registered voter who signs his petition. As of this writing, Musk has already doled out two $1 million payments to individual voters.

Critics have maintained that Musk is basically trying to buy votes for Trump, or is running a paid voter registration drive, both of which would be against the law. One political science scholar, UCLA’s Rick Hasen, claims Musk’s activities constitute “clearly illegal vote-buying.” Now, Justice Department officials confirm they have received complaints about Musk’s lottery-style giveaways, though it’s unclear whether they plan to do anything about it.

On Monday, the Washington Post reported that a number of former Republican officials sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking the Justice Department to look into Musk’s payments to voters. The letter was signed by a number of former highly-placed officials, including former governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman, former special adviser to Vice President Olivia Troye, and former chairman of the Federal Election Commission Trevor Potter, among others. The letter was also addressed to numerous district attorneys in Pennsylvania.

“We are aware of nothing like this in modern political history,” the letter states, in reference to Musk’s payments. “We urge you to investigate whether America PAC’s payments are prohibited payments for voter registration. We recognize that they are framed as payments for signing a petition, or for referring voters who sign. But many of the payments are restricted to registered voters, so anyone who wishes to get paid must first register.” Were Musk found guilty of such a crime, he could spend up to five years in prison.

Gizmodo reached out to Musk via Tesla. We also reached out to the Justice Department. A source familiar with Musk’s America PAC told CBS news: “The PAC is confident in the legality of this initiative and the predictable media meltdown is only helping AmericaPAC’s efforts to support President Trump.” Musk has previously claimed that anyone (irregardless of political affiliation) can win his daily $1 million prize, so long as they sign his petition.

Musk’s payments to voters obviously puts the Justice Department in a difficult position. We are a mere two weeks out from the election, which means that any effort to investigate or stop Musk could have a politicized effect. Should the government pursue action against Musk, it could easily be spun by Musk and other rightwing trolls as an attack on registered voters, who obviously stand to gain from the billionaire’s handouts.

Musk, who has been running Trump’s canvassing operations in major swing states, has poured tens of millions of dollars into a campaign that is increasingly inventive and bizarre. On Tuesday, a new report claimed that Musk’s political action group, America PAC, had been buying ads for Donald Trump on Musk’s own web platform, X (formerly Twitter). Previously, America PAC has been criticized for a number of other issues and purported irregularities. All of that said, the jury is still out on whether Musk is actually helping Trump win. Some high-level officials within the GOP have voiced concerns that Musk’s efforts aren’t actually all that effective. Previous reporting has suggested that the canvassing operations being manned by Musk-funded PACs are not making a dent.

Elon Musk is offering $1 million a day to sign his PAC petition. Is that legal?

Updated on: October 22, 2024

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX who's gone all-in on Republican Donald Trump's candidacy for the White House, is pledging to give away $1 million a day to voters for signing his political action committee's petition backing the Constitution. The offer is sparking questions among election experts about the plan's legality.

Some experts say it is a violation of the law to link a cash handout to signing a petition that also requires a person to be registered to vote. The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

A source familiar with Musk's America PAC said, "The PAC is confident in the legality of this initiative and the predictable media meltdown is only helping AmericaPAC's efforts to support President Trump."

Musk, the wealthiest person in the world with a fortune of $242 billion, has already committed at least $70 million to reelect the former president and is now ramping up his efforts to get voters in swing states to support Trump. The X owner had previously offered supporters $47 for each registered voter in seven battleground states that they could get to sign his petition, a nod to the fact that the winner of the November 5 election will be the nation's 47th president.

"The actions that we're seeing ... it violates federal law pretty clearly. Actually, I don't think it's a particularly close call," Adav Noti, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center, told CBS News.

"Though maybe some of the other things Musk was doing were of murky legality, this one is clearly illegal," wrote Rick Hasen, a UCLA Law School political science professor, at the Election Law Blog, about the $1 million per-day giveaway.

He pointed to a law that prohibits paying people for registering to vote or for voting.

"The problem is that the only people eligible to participate in this giveaway are the people who are registered to vote. And that makes it illegal," Hasen said in a telephone interview.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, the state's former attorney general, expressed concern about Musk's $1 million give-away plan on Sunday.

"I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the dark money is flowing, not just into Pennsylvania, but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians. That is deeply concerning," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Elon Musk's PAC petition

Musk promised on Saturday that he would give away $1 million a day, until the Nov. 5 election, for people signing his PAC's petition supporting the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, and the Second Amendment, with its right "to keep and bear arms."

He awarded a check during an event Saturday in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to a man identified as John Dreher. A message left with a number listed for Dreher was not returned Sunday. Musk gave out another check Sunday.

Musk's America PAC has launched a tour of Pennsylvania, a critical election battleground. He's aiming to register voters in support of Trump, whom Musk has endorsed. The PAC is also pushing to persuade voters in other key states.

Trump, who was campaigning Sunday in Pennsylvania, was asked about Musk's giveaway, and said, "I haven't followed that." Trump said he "speaks to Elon a lot. He's a friend of mine" and called him great for the country.

Musk, meanwhile, since January this year, has used X, the social media platform he owns, to amass nearly 3.3 billion views by fueling doubts about election security issues, a CBS News investigation has found. About 55% of Musk's posts about election security contain misleading or false statements, or amplify posts that do, the CBS analysis found.

Legal issues with Musk's $1 million giveaway

Among the election law experts who are raising red flags about the giveaway is Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance lawyer, who noted the latest iteration of Musk's giveaway approaches a legal boundary.

That's because the PAC is requiring registration as a prerequisite to become eligible for the $1 million check. "There would be few doubts about the legality if every Pennsylvania-based petition signer were eligible, but conditioning the payments on registration arguably violates the law," Fischer said in an email.

Michael Kang, an election law professor at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, said the context of the giveaway so close to Election Day makes it harder to make the case that the effort is anything but a incentivizing people to register to vote.

"It's not quite the same as paying someone to vote, but you're getting close enough that we worry about its legality," Kang said.

Typically coordination between campaigns and so-called super PACs had been forbidden. But a recent opinion by the Federal Election Commissioner, which regulates federal campaigns, permitted candidates and these groups to work together in certain cases, including getting out the vote efforts.

travelzcruix:
Any means to boot these Democrats out of the White House before they run America aground is allowed.

bid4rich:
Why are they afraid?

After all, Bill Gates just donated to Kamala Harris campaign.

It's a show of billionaires

Let them roll

Dpharisee:
Even Bet9ja has dropped the odds for Trump winning to 1.50 while Kamala odds of winning is now 2.30 and I read this morning that punters in American have staked over $2B in favour of Trump victory which is raising concerns for betting companies.

In reality it implies that the election is Otilo for Kamala Harris.
Black men are not voting Kamala and Elon Musk has a huge young fab base who love free speech and these two demographics will likely turn the votes in favour of Trump

Chinonye2022:
Abeg who is leading trump or Harris trump odd dropping day by day