Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X who has thrown his support behind Republican candidate Donald Trump for the White House, has already committed at least 70 million dollars to help the former president. He now promises to give away one million dollars to voters who sign the petition of his political action supercommittee in support of the Constitution.
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The initiative is raising doubts and alarms among some electoral experts, who claim that it is a violation of the law to link the delivery of money to the signing of a petition that also requires the person to be registered to vote.
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The Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, former state attorney general, expressed his concern about the plan on Sunday.
"I think there are real doubts about how the money is being spent in this campaign, how hidden money is flowing, not only in Pennsylvania, but apparently now in the pockets of Pennsylvania citizens. That is very concerning," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program.
A closer look at what's going on:
What is Musk doing?
Musk promised on Saturday that he will give away one million dollars a day until the November 5th elections to people who sign the petition of his PAC in support of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, and the Second Amendment, which includes the right "to keep and bear arms." During an event held on Saturday in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he handed a check to a man identified as John Dreher. There has been no response to a message sent to Dreher's phone number. On Sunday, Musk handed out another check.
What is the broader context?
El America PAC de Musk —a super political action committee that the magnate launched in May to help Trump in his attempt to return to the White House— has started a tour in Pennsylvania, a critical electoral battleground. Its goal is to attract voters in support of Trump. The PAC is also working to persuade voters in other key states. This is not the first money offer the organization has made. Musk has posted on X, the platform he bought as Twitter before changing its name, that he will offer people $47—and then $100—for recommending others to register and sign the petition.
What is the problem?
Some experts in electoral law are warning about this gift. Brendan Fischer, a lawyer specializing in campaign finance, said that Musk's latest variation of the gift is approaching a legal limit. This is because the PAC requires registration as a prerequisite to be eligible for the one million dollar check.
"There would be little doubt about the legality if all signatories of the Pennsylvania petition were eligible, but conditioning payments on registration could violate the law," Fischer said in an email.
Rick Hasen, a professor of Political Science at the UCLA Law School, went further. He pointed out a law that prohibits paying people to register to vote or to vote.
"If all I was doing was paying people to sign the petition, it could be a waste of money. But there is nothing illegal about it," Hasen said in a phone interview. "The issue is that the only people who can participate in this raffle are those who are registered to vote. And that makes it illegal."
Michael Kang, a professor of election law at the Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern University, said that the timing of the gift so close to Election Day makes it harder to argue that the effort is nothing more than an incentive for people to register to vote.
“It is not the same as paying someone to vote, but we are getting close enough to worry about its legality,” Kang said.
On Sunday, the AP left a message for the PAC seeking comments, just as it did with the Department of Justice.
Can the PAC and Trump's campaign be coordinated?
Normally, coordination between campaigns and super PACs was prohibited. However, a recent decision by the Federal Election Commission, which regulates federal campaigns, has allowed candidates and these groups to work together in certain cases, such as voter outreach campaigns.