Elon Musk‘s $1 Million Lottery Raises Legal Concerns
A letter sent to Elon Musk’s political action committee from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) warned that his lottery-style giveaway of $1m per day to a registered voter may be illegal, according to US media.
Mr Musk, the world’s richest man, actively campaigns for Republican Donald Trump in his presidential bid against Kamala Harris.
Over the weekend, the owner of Tesla and X/Twitter began giving away prizes to American voters who signed a petition.
It’s unclear when the DOJ letter was sent to Mr Musk’s organization, America PAC. DOJ investigators have declined to comment on the case.
US outlets, including CBS News, reported that the letter informed Musk’s team that the giveaway may violate federal election laws.
It was sent by the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section following public outrage from Democrats over the cash stunt.
Under US law, it is illegal to pay people to register to vote. However, it remains unclear whether the sweepstakes breaks any laws.
Mr Musk’s contest offers money to signatories of a petition circulated by the PAC.
“We want to try to get over a million, maybe 2 million voters in the battleground states to sign the petition in support of the First and Second Amendment,” Mr Musk said in Pennsylvania when he announced the event.
The contest rules state that winners must be registered to vote, but no party affiliation is required.
“We are going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election,” he added.
The America PAC website states the goal is to get “1 million registered voters in swing states to sign in support of the Constitution, especially freedom of speech and the right to bear arms.”
The giveaway is open to voters in seven swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. US election day is 5 November.
On Tuesday, a group of Republican ex-prosecutors wrote to the DOJ urging officials to investigate the contest.
“We are aware of nothing like this in modern political history,” they wrote, pointing to potential federal and state law violations.
“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.”
America PAC stated that the winner will be “selected to earn $1M as a spokesperson for America PAC.” Winners have previously gone on to film pro-Trump videos.
Several legal experts have expressed concerns that the contest may be illegal.
Paul Schiff Berman, a law professor at George Washington University, stated, “His offer is only open to registered voters, so I think his offer runs afoul of this provision.”
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.
Adav Noti of the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center argued that Mr Musk’s scheme “violates federal law and is subject to civil or criminal enforcement by the Department of Justice.”
Mr Noti noted, “It is illegal to give out money on the condition that recipients register as voters.”
However, Jeremy Paul, a law instructor at Northeastern University, suggested that Mr Musk may have found a legal loophole. He argued 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 believes the case would be difficult to litigate.