Tech billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk is under fire for his plan to give away $1 million a day to a registered voter in particularly hotly contested US states. Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said investigators could look into the operation. Law professor Rick Hasen argued that Musk’s actions were illegal. Meanwhile, the Tesla boss gave away the second million on Sunday in Pennsylvania, where the outcome of the US presidential election on November 5th could be decided.
Musk’s award of one million dollars (a good 900,000 euros) “at random” is aimed at registered voters who sign a petition. This advocates for “freedom of expression and the right to bear arms” and was launched by Musk’s organization “America PAC”. This supports the election campaign of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Law professor: Offer only to registered voters is a problem
According to Musk, the lottery is intended to give the petition more attention. However, Hasen, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, sees a serious problem in the fact that only registered voters can take part. One could interpret this to mean that the lottery creates an incentive to register – and under US election law it is forbidden to pay citizens money to vote or register.
Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro said on the US television channel NBC that there were overall questions about how Musk was using money in the US election campaign. Money that is now going directly into the pockets of residents in Pennsylvania. “This is extremely worrying.”
Musk handed over the first check in Harrisburg and the second in Pittsburgh. He said his goal is to get between one and two million voters in battleground states to sign the petition because “this is an important message to our elected leaders.” In Pennsylvania, every registered voter who signs the petition gets $100. The state could be particularly important because it has 19 electors. To win the presidential election you need 270 electoral votes.
Elon Musk wants to mobilize in the important swing states
Musk’s goal is likely to be to get a particularly large number of conservatives in the hotly contested states to register to vote. Musk has been supporting the Republican Trump financially for a long time with donations worth millions. According to documents from the US election authority FEC, the Tesla boss donated around 75 million dollars (69 million euros) in tranches within three months to the “America PAC”, which supports Trump in the election campaign. On his online platform
Trump is running against Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential election on November 5th. Musk, who often gives conspiracy theories reach, has been supporting Trump for a long time. The Tesla boss also regularly voices opposition to Harris. Trump had recently suggested that Musk could be put at the head of a committee to review US finances if he won the election. Musk should cut government spending, said Trump. The billionaire often complains about authorities’ excessive demands on Tesla and the space company SpaceX, which he also runs.
