Elon Musk’s $1 million giveaway for voters who sign his free-speech and gun-rights petition falls into a gray area of election law, and legal experts are divided about whether the billionaire supporter of Donald Trump could be running afoul of prohibitions on paying people to register to vote. The Tesla CEO is promising to give $1 million each day to a randomly selected person who signs his online petition pledging to support the First and Second amendments of US constitution, which protect the rights to free speech and gun ownership.The petition is only open to signatories who are registered voters in 7 swing states likely to decide the prez election.
The giveaway could be interpreted as Musk using his wealth to attempt to influence the tightly contested prez race between Trump and his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris. Four experts were divided on whether the giveaway violates federal laws that make it a crime to pay or offer to pay a person to register to vote. Musk’s representatives did not respond.
“There is certainly an argument that this falls within the scope of a federal prohibition on paying a person to vote or register to vote,” said Daniel Weiner of left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice. But Brad Smith, Federal Election Commission ex-chairman, said Musk is likely in the clear because signing the petition is far removed from registering to vote.
While Musk’s promotion does not directly induce people to register, its timing and focus on battleground states indicate the petition component is merely a pretext, according to Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California who said the sweepstakes is therefore illegal. Adav Noti of the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center agreed, saying it is illegal to give out money on the condition that people are registered to vote. But Smith said Musk has other plausible reasons for wanting people to sign the petition, including gathering names of likely voters who support his causes. Musk, world’s richest person, has so far given $75 million to Trump’s campaign. Asked by reporters about Musk’s sops, Trump said, “I haven’t followed that.”