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Legal experts disagree on whether Elon Musk, a billionaire admirer of Donald Trump, is violating the law’s ban on paying people to register to vote. Musk’s $1 million offer for voters who sign his petition for free speech and gun rights falls into a murky area of election law.
The new CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O) has pledged to provide $1 million every day to a randomly chosen individual who signs his online petition endorsing the First and Second amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which safeguard the rights to free speech and gun ownership.
Daniel Weiner of the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice stated, “There is undoubtedly a case that this is covered by a federal ban on paying someone to vote or to register to vote.” “Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a pattern of him skating up to the edge of election laws.”
Requests for response on Monday were not immediately answered by Musk’s aides.
Regarding whether the freebie breaches federal statutes that make it illegal to pay or offer to pay someone to register to vote, four legal experts couldn’t agree.
According to Brad Smith, a professor at Capital University Law School and a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, Musk is probably safe because signing the petition is far enough away from actually registering to vote.
“The mere fact that there might be an incentive doesn’t arise to a payment for a particular activity,” Smith stated.
The donation might be seen as Musk attempting to use his money to sway the fiercely heated presidential battle between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is a Democrat.
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In battleground states where the election could be decided, Musk’s America PAC hopes to play a significant role in voter registration and mobilization efforts.
According to the petition’s terms, signers must be registered voters in the states that are most likely to decide the election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin.
Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, called the offer “deeply concerning” on Sunday and urged police to look into it.
Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, stated that the sweepstakes is unlawful because Musk’s promotion does not directly encourage people to register, but its timing and emphasis on battleground states suggest the petition component is only a pretext.
Since you have to be a registered voter, I believe that signing the petition has no bearing on the legal issue. “It doesn’t matter if you add other conditions,” Hasen stated, adding that lottery chances are specifically mentioned in the U.S. Department of Justice election crimes manual as possibly unlawful payments.
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center’s Adav Noti concurred, stating that it is unlawful to distribute funds requiring voter registration.
According to Weiner of the Brennan Center, the campaign is “fishy” legally but is in the middle of the road. According to him, the main concern is if signing the petition is really a ruse to get people to register to vote.
According to Smith of Capital University, Musk has further justifiable motives for requesting signatures on the petition, such as compiling the names of potential supporters of his causes.
According to federal records, Musk, who Forbes ranks as the richest person in the world, has contributed at least $75 million to America PAC thus far, making the organization a vital component of Trump’s campaign to retake the White House.
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