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Musk Promises to Give $1 Million to Voters Every Day
Experts Criticize Suspected Bribery
According to Reuters reports, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, promised to donate $1 million every day to people who support the First and Second Amendments petitions at a Trump campaign event over the weekend, until Election Day.
During the campaign event, Musk stated, “We want to get more than one million, maybe two million voters in swing states to sign petitions supporting the First and Second Amendments. … From now until the election, we will randomly give $1 million to people who sign the petitions.”
The First and Second Amendments protect the rights of free speech and the right to bear arms. According to information on the website of the American Political Action Committee (PAC), petition signers must be registered voters and reside in one of the seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, in order to receive $1 million.
The petition also offers $100 to each registered Pennsylvania voter who signs, and $100 to anyone who recommends a registered Pennsylvania voter to sign.
Musk donated a $1 million check to a participant named John Dreher at an event held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday. The event was organized by the America PAC, which Musk established to support Republican candidate Donald Trump in the presidential election.
Reportedly, Musk handed the check to John Dreher, saying, “By the way, John had no idea about this beforehand. Anyway, you’re welcome.”
According to a tweet by the American Political Action Committee on X platform, Musk donated a second $1 million check to another woman at an event in Pittsburgh on Sunday.
However, the legality of Musk’s donations to voters is under extensive scrutiny. Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro expressed concerns about Musk’s donations to Pennsylvania voters during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday and called for law enforcement agencies to investigate.
Derek Muller, an election law expert at the University of Notre Dame Law School, pointed out that Musk’s limitation of the rewards to registered voters seems to be exchanging cash for voter registration, which inevitably raises concerns of bribery. However, Muller stated that most states only consider bribery as a criminal offense when it occurs during the act of voting, so federal prosecutors rarely bring election bribery cases, and the Supreme Court has been gradually narrowing the scope of bribery laws.
On the other hand, David Becker, a former official in charge of election law cases at the Department of Justice and founder of the non-partisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, stated that the award is only available to “registered voters in the seven swing states that could affect the outcome of the presidential election.” This strongly indicates that Musk intends to influence the election and may have legal issues.
Furthermore, this proposal was made in the last few days before some voter registration deadlines, further reinforcing Musk’s potential intention to stimulate voter registration. In addition, the American Political Action Committee can obtain more contact information from potential voters through this event and use this information to mobilize voter support for Trump.