Billionaire Elon Musk has pledged to award $1 million every day until Election Day in the United States on November 5 to randomly selected registered voters who sign a petition in “support of the Constitution” launched by his pro-Donald Trump America Political Action Committee (PAC). .

Musk announced the giveaway on Saturday at a rally organized by America PAC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The plan has come under scrutiny from legal experts and from Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, who on Sunday asked law enforcement to launch an investigation into possible election interference.

Here’s more about Musk’s giveaway:

Why does Elon Musk give away money?

From October 17 to November 5, Musk said he will give $1 million to a randomly selected winner every day if:

• He or she is a registered voter.
• He or she comes from one of the following swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin or North Carolina.
• He or she has signed an online petition created by America PAC.

The 53-year-old Musk — founder and CEO of electric car company Tesla and rocket maker SpaceX and owner of social media network X — has a net worth of $274.4 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list.

What’s in the America PAC petition?

Musk has repeatedly called the petition one that “upholds the U.S. Constitution.”

More specifically, the petition on a webpage on the America PAC website says: “The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. By signing below, I pledge my support for the First and Second Amendments.”

The web page reads “EARN 1,000,000” in large, bold letters, flanked by two money bag emojis. Persons signing are expected to enter their first name, last name, email address and mobile phone number.

Next to the cell phone number field on the form is a note stating that the number is only needed to confirm that the petition signer is a legitimate voter and “serves for no other purpose.”

“Our goal is to get 1 million registered voters in swing states to sign in support of the Constitution,” the website said.

On Friday, the day before the giveaway was announced, Reuters news agency reported that Alysia McMillan, who was running for America PAC in Wisconsin, said organizers had reported that they had not met their daily voter recruitment goals and expected that they would not succeed. their ultimate goal of reaching 450,000 voters on Election Day.

In Pennsylvania, each registered voter who signs the petition automatically receives $100 in compensation, with an additional $100 paid for each person who signs after their referral. In other swing states, individuals are paid $47 per successful referral.

The date the petition was created and the number of signatures collected to date were not visible on the America PAC webpage.

What is America PAC?

PACs raise and spend money to advocate for or against a candidate in elections. Musk founded America PAC in May to support former President Trump’s election bid this year. On October 16, it was reported that Musk had poured $75 million into America PAC in three months.

Musk was originally from South Africa and obtained US citizenship in 2002. For years he voted for Democratic Party candidates.

However, the relationship between Musk and Democrats has soured during President Joe Biden’s term in office. Musk didn’t immediately become a Trump supporter. Instead, he threw his weight behind one of Trump’s competitors for the Republican presidential nomination, Ron DeSantis, in 2022.

Trump has a mixed history with X, formerly known as Twitter. His tweets regularly made headlines in the run-up to his first campaign for president in 2016, which he won. He was banned from X on January 8, 2021, two days after the US Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters over the results of the 2020 election, which Biden won.

However, Musk bought Twitter in October 2022. Trump’s account was reinstated the following month.

Musk posted a message of support from Trump on

Musk attended a Trump rally on October 5, wearing a black cap that read “Make America Great Again” (MAGA), Trump’s campaign slogan.

Why did Musk roll out this prize system?

Musk said the reason he is giving away the money is to raise awareness about the America PAC petition.

“The traditional media will not report on it. Not everyone is on X,” he said in a video of the Harrisburg rally on America PAC’s X account. “I think this news is really going to fly.”

“You don’t even have to vote, you just have to sign a petition,” Musk said in another video posted to the same account.

Is Musk’s $1 Million Plan Legal?

Making a payment to someone “to register to vote or vote” is a federal crime, according to a document published by the U.S. Department of Justice in December 2017. It adds that this payment does not have to be money, but can be in other forms. valuables such as drinks or lottery tickets.

Campaign finance attorney Brendan Fischer told The Associated Press that Musk’s giveaway is approaching a legal limit. That’s because the PAC requires registration as a condition of eligibility for the $1 million prize.

“There would be few questions about the legality if every Pennsylvania petition signer were eligible, but conditioning the payments on registration is demonstrably against the law,” Fischer told the news agency.

“It’s not quite the same as paying someone to vote, but it’s close enough that we’re concerned about the legality of it,” Michael Kang, an election law professor at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, told AP.

“While some of the other things Musk did may have been of murky legality, this one is clearly illegal,” Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote in a blog post on Saturday.

In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press program on Sunday, Shapiro said Musk’s plan was “very concerning” and something law enforcement should look into.

“Musk obviously has the right to express his opinion. He has made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump. Not me. Obviously we have a difference of opinion,” Shapiro said on Meet the Press.

“I’m not denying him that, but if you’re going to allow this kind of money to flow into politics, I think it raises serious questions,” he added.

Has Musk paid out money yet?

Since the tech billionaire’s announcement, Musk’s plan has already seen two recipients.

On Saturday, Musk announced the first winner shortly after announcing the plan during the rally.

The winner, a red MAGA hat-clad man named John Dreher, ran through a roaring crowd to the stage, his fists in the air.

“John had no idea, by the way,” Musk announced, handing a delighted Dreher a check as an American flag appeared on a screen behind them.

On Sunday, Musk announced the second $1 million winner, a woman named Kristine Fishell. Fishell donned a red shirt with a slogan for Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, and cupped her face in disbelief.

Two $1 MILLION checks went out to voters for signing our petition in support of the Constitution.

A registered swing state voter who signs the petition will be selected to earn $1 million every day until Election Day as a spokesperson for America PAC.

SIGN: https://t.co/TMeyWUhbrH pic.twitter.com/q1hlauy245

— America (@america) October 21, 2024