By Steve Neavling
Elon Musk’s recent cash giveaways to residents in critical swing states has prompted a cautionary response from the Justice Department.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the department sent a formal letter to Musk’s America PAC, warning that offering cash rewards to registered voters who sign a petition may be in violation of federal law, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The billionaire has poured millions into battleground states through his pro-Trump political action committee, which is offering voters in Pennsylvania and six other key states a chance to win $1 million by signing a petition supporting free speech and gun rights.
On Sunday, Musk took to his social media platform X to explain the campaign’s objective.
“The goal of the $1M/day prize is to maximize awareness of our petition to support The Constitution,” he wrote.
However, the Justice Department’s letter indicated that these payments could potentially violate federal law, which prohibits knowingly or willfully offering money to individuals in exchange for voter registration or participation in an election involving federal candidates. The law also bans payments made to influence voting.
While a spokesperson for the America PAC did not respond to the warning, earlier in the week, the PAC maintained that the monetary prizes were fully legal.
“The PAC is confident in the legality of this initiative, and the predictable media meltdown is only helping America PAC’s efforts to support President Trump,” an America PAC representative stated earlier this week.
So far, three voters in Pennsylvania and one in North Carolina have each won million-dollar prizes, with the PAC planning to continue daily lotteries up until Election Day. Both newly registered voters and those already registered are eligible to participate.
Musk has clarified that there are no conditions tied to the $1 million payouts, aside from a request for the winners to act as spokespeople for the PAC’s petition.
This isn’t the first time someone with deep pockets has experimented with election sweepstakes. Back in 1982, Hollywood promoter Edward Shaw created a sweepstakes for California voters. Thousands of residents mailed in their ballot stubs for a chance to win prizes such as plane tickets, gym memberships, and even a lifetime supply of McDonald’s fries, according to media reports at the time.
Shaw considered his sweepstakes a civic incentive aimed at increasing voter participation. So much so that a Democratic congressman was so taken with the idea that he proposed a bill in Congress for a $100 million national election lottery. However, the idea never gained traction.
Although Shaw’s lottery garnered significant attention, it also led to a warning from the Justice Department, which informed him that the sweepstakes was illegal. Ultimately, he wasn’t charged, and California election officials reported that the lottery did little to significantly boost voter turnout.
