The Department of Justice alerts Elon Musk about the potential illegality of his $1 million incentive for ethically-voting registered citizens.
Elon Musk, who has openly supported former President Donald Trump and is investing significant funds to boost his campaign, has announced a $1 million reward by his political action committee intending to boost voter registrations in closely contested states.
Initially, Musk's offer of rewards to registered voters stirred concerns from election law experts and certain officials, who queried whether it violated regulations.
According to federal law, it's prohibited to compensate individuals for voter registration. The present petition's terms offer $1 million rewards to randomly chosen individuals who sign the petition to uphold First and Second Amendment freedoms. However, signing the petition necessitates voter registration in specific states.
A letter from the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, which probes potential election-related law infringements, was reportedly sent to Musk's political action committee, according to sources.
CNN attempted to solicit comments from Musk, email addresses listed on the super PAC's website, the treasurer, and Musk's press team at the X platform but received no response.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
At a Trump campaign event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Musk declared, "We aim to enlist over a million, maybe 2 million voters in the battleground states to sign the petition in support of the First and Second Amendment. Every day, we'll be randomly awarding $1 million to those who have signed the petition from now until the election."
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and former state attorney general, expressed concern over the giveaway on Sunday and suggested legal scrutiny was warranted. In response, Musk posted on his platform that he found Shapiro's remark "concerning."
In response to a post claiming Musk was "paying to register Republicans," Musk maintained that winners could hail from any or no political party, and voting wasn't a condition to win the prize. He did not address the potential legal issue of limiting the sweepstakes to registered voters.
On the second day of the sweepstakes, the super PAC changed its marketing strategy regarding the giveaway, phrasing the money as payment for a task. Through social media posts, the group said winners would be "selected to earn $1M as a spokesperson for America PAC" – and subsequently posted pro-Trump testimonial videos featuring the winners.
However, several election law experts who spoke to CNN highlighted that the fine print on Musk's super PAC website explaining the official terms of entry did not change. Only petition signers could win the $1 million prize, and signers "must be registered voters of Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin."
It remains uncertain when Musk received the Justice Department's letter and whether it prompted alterations to messaging surrounding the giveaway.
The controversy surrounding Musk's political action committee's offer of a $1 million reward to encourage voter registrations has sparked discussions in the realm of politics. Election law experts have questionably deemed it a violation of regulations due to the prohibition of compensating individuals for voter registration.
Musk's political stance in supporting Former President Donald Trump and his efforts to boost voter registrations in crucial states have undeniably influenced the political landscape.
