On Thursday, October 24th, the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, resumed his Super Political Action Committee’s daily distribution of $1 million to registered voters in swing states. This activity had briefly halted following an alleged warning from the US Department of Justice.
Musk’s campaign organization, “America PAC,” distributed $1 million checks to two voters in Wisconsin and Michigan on Thursday. The raffle activity seemed to have paused on Wednesday after reports surfaced that the US Department of Justice had sent a letter to the organization warning that the behavior might be illegal.
Several days ago, Musk initiated a raffle where a randomly selected swing state voter would receive a daily reward. The event is set to continue until election day and aims to support former president and Republican 2024 presidential candidate, Trump.
The billionaire announced this initiative while attending a campaign event in Pennsylvania last Saturday, presenting a $1 million check to a participant on the spot.
Participants in the activity are required to sign a petition pledging support for the First and Second Amendments of the US Constitution, which respectively protect citizens’ rights to free speech and bear arms.
Initially, the Super Political Action Committee distributed a $1 million check daily, with three going to Pennsylvania voters and one to a North Carolina voter.
However, no winners were announced by the organization on Wednesday, without providing any explanation, simply pausing the activity for a day. Yet on Thursday, they suddenly announced two winners on social media, seemingly making up for the missing names from Wednesday.
This activity has sparked controversy, with some legal experts suggesting that the daily raffle may violate the federal election laws prohibiting payment for voter registration. Musk’s Super Political Action Committee website specifies that only registered voters from seven swing states are eligible to sign the petition.
US law states that any act of “paying or offering to pay, providing payments, or accepting payments for the purpose of registering to vote or voting” is a crime.
Some legal experts told CNN that the primary issue with Musk’s million-dollar prize activity is treating voter registration as a prerequisite for participating in the raffle. If the activity provided a chance to win to any American regardless of their registration status, the issue would not arise.
Musk responded to a post on X on Sunday, stating, “All you have to do is sign the @America petition supporting freedom of speech and the right to bear arms in the constitution, and you have a chance to win $1 million every day!”
“You can be a member of any party or not belong to any party, and you don’t even have to vote,” Musk added.
As of Thursday evening, these controversial requirements remain unchanged and are still present on the Super Political Action Committee’s website.