Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla, has announced a bold plan to give away $1 million a day to voters in Pennsylvania.
The giveaway is part of Musk’s strategy to boost Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign in the crucial final weeks before the U.S. presidential election.
Musk’s announcement came during a town hall event held on October 17, 2024, in Folsom, Pennsylvania.
This state is one of the key battlegrounds that could decide the outcome of the election.
The winners will be chosen randomly from a pool of voters who sign a pro-constitution petition organized by AmericaPAC, a political action group Musk created to support Trump.
Musk said his goal is to rally more than a million voters in battleground states to sign the petition.
The petition expresses support for free speech and gun rights, which are part of the First and Second Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Musk’s move has already sparked outrage and raised concerns about the legality of the giveaway.
Prominent election law expert Rick Hasen, a professor at UCLA, argued that the offer appears to be illegal.
According to U.S. federal law, it is illegal to offer payment to voters in exchange for registering to vote or for voting.
The law states that anyone caught doing so could face a $10,000 fine or up to five years in prison.
“Even though Musk’s giveaway is framed as a petition signing rather than a direct payment for votes, the intent behind it is questionable,” Hasen wrote on his Election Law Blog.
He further pointed out that the petition is restricted to registered voters in swing states like Pennsylvania, making the offer even more suspicious.
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor, Josh Shapiro, who supports Kamala Harris, also expressed deep concern about Musk’s plan.
In an interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press, Shapiro said that law enforcement should look into the legality of the payments.
He described the strategy as “deeply concerning,” especially in a high-stakes election like the one coming up in November.
This isn’t the first time Musk has thrown his support behind Trump.
In recent years, Musk has emerged as one of Trump’s most influential backers.
In July 2024, Musk launched AmericaPAC to support Trump’s campaign, donating a massive $75 million to the cause.
Musk has become an important figure in Trump’s re-election efforts, and his financial contributions have helped keep the campaign afloat.
Trump’s team has relied heavily on outside groups like AmericaPAC to reach out to voters, especially in swing states like Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania is one of the most important battleground states in the 2024 election.
With its 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania could make or break the election for either candidate.
In 2016, Trump narrowly won the state, but in 2020, it flipped back to the Democrats when Joe Biden won.
With polls showing a tight race between Trump and Harris, Pennsylvania voters are once again in the spotlight.
This is why Musk’s focus on the state has raised so many eyebrows.
By offering $1 million a day to voters in Pennsylvania, Musk is trying to energize Trump’s base and get more people involved in the election process.
Critics of Musk’s strategy have labeled it as a manipulation tactic, designed to create a massive database of voter information.
When voters sign the petition, they are required to provide their contact details.
This information could then be used by AmericaPAC to target voters with campaign materials and raise funds for Trump’s re-election.
Hasen also raised concerns about Musk’s previous offers of $47 to anyone who got a registered swing-state voter to sign the petition.
Although this offer wasn’t a direct payment to voters, it still introduced money into a process that could influence voter behavior.
Campaign finance experts have warned that these kinds of tactics blur the line between legal and illegal election activities.
