Elon Musk is giving away $1 million a day to registered Pennsylvania voters who sign his MAGA petition . In a Sunday morning visit to “Meet the Press,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro suggested the unorthodox GOTV operation for Donald Trump could be an illegal attempt to buy votes.
Host Kristen Welker asked Shapiro whether he thought Musk’s plan, which gives away $1 million at random to one petition assignee while also promising cash for Pennsylvania voters who refer others to sign his Trump-backing petition, was legal.
“There are real questions about how he is spending money in this race, when the dark money is flowing,” Shapiro said. “When you start flowing this kind of money into politics, I think it raises serious questions that folks may want to take a look at.”
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Shapiro didn't go so far as to say Musk's actions were illegal. He deferred to Pennsylvania law enforcement for final judgment but noted that Musk’s actions didn’t look 100% legitimate.
“I think it's something that law enforcement could take a look at. I'm not the attorney general anymore of Pennsylvania. I'm the governor, but it does raise some serious questions,” Shapiro said..
The former AG and current governor isn’t alone in his suspicion. Legal scholar Rick Hasen noted that the scheme was “clearly illegal” on Saturday.
Hasen, a law professor at UCLA, elaborated in a post for Election Law Blog that “some of the other things Musk was doing were of murky legality,” but the million-dollar offer is downright unlawful.
Citing a federal law making it a crime when someone “pays … either for registration to vote or for voting” and a Department of Justice clarification that “lottery chances” count as a payment, Hasen claimed that Musk’s promise was akin to a bribe to vote in the eyes of the law.
“I’d like to hear if there’s anyone who thinks this is not a clear case of a violation,” Hasen wrote.
The scheme is just one instance of the world’s richest man and the recipient of billions per year in federal contracts using his wealth to steer the race toward Trump. Musk is also offering residents in other swing states $47 each to refer voters to sign his petition, and spending millions on hyper-targetted and often misleading ads to sway turnout.
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