Elon Musk’s plan to give away $1 million every day until the election

Elon Musk, reportedly the world’s richest man, plans to give away $1 million a day to registered voters in key swing states who sign a petition, but the plan has garnered questions about its legality.
Musk, a major supporter of former President Donald Trump’s campaign, was campaigning for Trump on Saturday when he announced the $1 million giveaway, according to CNN. The announcement drew concerns about its legality from election law experts.
The petition voters must sign to be eligible to receive the money is a pro-Constitution petition from Musk’s political action committee, AmericaPAC.
According to the BBC, the winners of the $1 million will be chosen each day from registered voters in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina who sign AmericaPAC’s pro-Constitution petition.
“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,” said Musk at a campaign even in Pennsylvania. “We are going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election,” according to CNN.
The first $1 million was awarded at the event Saturday in Pennsylvania to a man identified as John Dreher, another check was given out on Sunday, per CBS News.
According to CNN, the announcement immediately drew concern from election law experts, saying the giveaway could violate laws against paying people to vote.
“Federal law 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,’” according to the BBC.
The winners of the $1 million aren’t getting paid to register to vote or to vote, they’re being paid to sign a petition, but only registered voters can sign the petition and that’s where the issue is.
“When you start limiting prizes or giveaways to only registered voters or only people who have voted, that’s where bribery concerns arise,” election law expert Derek Muller said according to CNN. “By limiting a giveaway only to registered voters, it looks like you’re giving cash for voter registration.”
Multiple election law experts have condemned Musk’s actions of giving away money, some say it is illegal vote buying or bribery.
According to CNN, it could violate law to offer cash prizes to people who were already registered before the award was announced.
Those who sign the petition must submit contact details, which could allow the PAC to contact them about their vote, per the BBC.
Musk launched AmericaPAC in July in support of Trump’s campaign and since then has contributed over $75 million to it, according to the BBC.
According to CBS News, the AmericaPAC petition voters are being asked to sign is in support of the First Amendment, protecting free speech and the Second Amendment, protecting the right to bear arms.
In the same seven battleground states eligible for the $1 million dollars, Musk offered $47 to each registered voter who signed the petition, per CBS News.
The PAC has started a tour of Pennsylvania, aiming to register voters in support of Trump and is also working to persuade voters in other states, per CBS News.