Elon Musk offers voters $1 million a day to sign PAC petition backing the Constitution. Is that legal?

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, pictured above [File]
Photo courtesy: Reuters

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder and owner of Tesla and Space . Now he is promising voters $1 million a day to sign his political action committee’s petition in support of the Constitution.

The gift is raising questions and concerns among some election experts, who say linking a cash distribution to a petition signature violates the law, which would also require a person to be registered to vote. Is.

Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor Josh Shapiro, a former state attorney general, expressed concerns about the plan on Sunday.

“I think there are real questions about how he’s spending money in this race, how dark money is flowing, not only into Pennsylvania, but obviously now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians. It’s extremely concerning,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

A closer look at what’s happening:

Musk promised on Saturday that he would give $1 million a day, leading up to the November 5 election, to people who sign his PAC’s petition in support of the First Amendment, which protects free speech, and the Second Amendment, With his right “to keep and bear Arms.” He presented the check to a man named John Dreher during an event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. A message left with a number listed for Dreher returned Sunday. Didn’t come. Musk gave another check on Sunday.

Musk’s America PAC has started a tour of the important election battleground Pennsylvania. Their goal is to register voters in support of Trump, who Musk has endorsedThe PAC is also focusing on convincing voters in other key states. This is not the first offer of cash made by the organization. Musk posted on Platform

Trump, who was campaigning in Pennsylvania on Sunday, was asked about Musk’s gift, and he said, “I have not followed it.” Trump said he “talks to Elon a lot. He is my friend” and described him as great for the country.

Some election law experts are raising red flags about this gift. Campaign finance lawyer Brendan Fischer said the latest iteration of Musk’s gift comes close to the legal limit. This is because the PAC requires registration as a prerequisite to becoming eligible for the $1 million check.

“If every Pennsylvania-based petition signer were eligible there would be some doubt about the legality, but stipulating payment upon registration is certainly a violation of the law,” Fischer said in an email.

UCLA Law School political science professor Rick Hassan went even further. He pointed to a law that prohibits people from registering to vote or paying to vote. “If he was just paying people to sign the petition, it might be a waste of money. But there is nothing illegal in it,” Hasan said in a telephone interview. “The problem is that the only people eligible to participate in this giveaway are those who are registered to vote. And that makes it illegal.

Michael Kang, a professor of election law at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, said the context of the gift giving so close to Election Day makes it hard to make the case that the effort does anything more than encourage people to register to vote. There is nothing else.

“It’s not the same as paying someone to vote, but you’re getting so close that we’re starting to worry about the legality of it,” Kang said.

A message seeking comment was left with the PAC on Sunday, as well as a request for comment from the Justice Department.

Coordination between campaigns and so-called super PACs was generally prohibited. But a recent opinion from the Federal Election Commissioner, who regulates federal campaigns, has allowed candidates and these groups to work together in some cases, including get out the vote efforts.