Tech
billionaire
Elon
Musk
gave
a
$1
million
check
to
an
audience
member
at
a
rally
in
Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania,
where
he’s
been
Trump-stumping,
on
Saturday.
And
he
said
he
will
continue
to
give
that
prize
to
one
random
voter
per
day
until
the
Presidential
election
on
November
5th.
The
move
could
very
well
break
US
election
law.
Only
people
who
have
signed
a
petition
from
Musk’s
America
PAC
are
eligible
for
the
sweepstakes-style
offer.
And
only
registered
voters
are
eligible
to
sign
the
petition.
According
to
its
terms,
Musk
will
give
$1
million
to
someone
in
Pittsburgh
today,
but
will
later
expand
to
anyone
living
in
swing
states
like
Georgia,
Nevada,
or
Arizona.
It’s
against
federal
law
to
impel
anyone
to
vote
or
get
registered
to
vote
and
Musk’s
$1
million
prizes
are
“clearly
illegal,”
writes
UCLA
political
science
professor
Rick
Hasen
in
his
Election
Law
Blog.
He
cites
52
USC
10307
(c),
which
states
that
anyone
who
“pays
or
offers
to
pay
or
accepts
payment
either
for
registration
to
vote
or
for
voting”
can
potentially
see
$10,000
in
fines
or
five
years
in
prison.
There
are
also
other
legally
dubious
aspects
of
the
pledge,
include
bonuses
for
signers
and
for
getting
others
to
sign
it.
Pennsylvania
Governor
Josh
Shapiro
said
on
Meet
the
Press
this
morning
that
the
offer
is
“deeply
concerning.”
He
stopped
short
of
calling
it
illegal,
stating
that
he’s
no
longer
the
state’s
Attorney
General,
but
said
the
ploy
is
“something
that
law
enforcement
can
take
a
look
at.”
Hasen
told
NBC
News
that
the
fact
the
petition
is
only
open
to
registered
voters
may
be
what
puts
it
over
the
top.
Federal
authorities
can
either
prosecute
Musk
or
warn
him
to
stop
the
scheme,
he
said.
The
US
Department
of
Justice
would
have
to
charge
him
with
violating
the
law
in
federal
court;
a
federal
agency
or
private
party
could
also
file
a
civil
lawsuit.
Either
one
of
these
would
take
time.
Musk
could
be
trusting
that
Trump,
who
has
pardoned
allies
and
is
unlikely
to
let
the
DOJ
punish
a
major
donor,
will
win
and
make
the
legal
questions
irrelevant.
Even
if
the
former
President
doesn’t
win,
Musk
already
has
a
track
record
of
flouting
regulation
with
few
consequences
in
the
US.
But
conversely,
it’s
an
open
question
how
much
Musk’s
sweepstakes
will
help
Trump
—
and
whether
it
can
make
up
for
rumored
weaknesses
in
the
candidate’s
traditional
campaign
ground
game.
(Originally posted by Wes Davis)
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