Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is suing Elon Musk and his super PAC to block election experts from donating millions of dollars to registered voters in an effort to stop the lottery-style scheme. Department of Justicethere is warned may violate federal law.
Krasner seeks ruling: In a filing Monday, he argued that the effort was an illegal, unregulated lottery, avoiding the question of whether it violated laws against vote-buying.
“America PAC and Musk are forcing citizens of Philadelphia — and others in the Commonwealth (and other states in upcoming elections) — to give up their personal identification information and make a political pledge in exchange for a chance to win $1 million. This is a lottery,” the lawsuit says. “And this is definitely an illegal lottery. Under unambiguous Pennsylvania law, all lotteries in Pennsylvania must be regulated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
This month, Musk’s America PAC began giving $1 million a day to a registered voter who signs a petition pledging support for the First and Second Amendments, and $100 a day to Pennsylvania voters who sign the petition. Musk publicly and regularly announced the gifts while campaigning for former President Donald Trump.
It’s illegal under federal law to pay someone to vote, but Musk insists he’s not paying people to register. Musk and America PAC said the cash gifts were to encourage petition signatures. Still, his contest is open only to those in key battleground states and favors Pennsylvania voters by awarding them $100 each. The Justice Department sent a warning letter to his PAC last week but Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, continued to defend the venture.
“To be clear, this is not a petition to get someone to vote or register. This is truly a petition in support of the Constitution of the United States, particularly the right to free speech and the right to bear arms,” he said. online municipal event Friday on the X social media platform.
An attorney representing America PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
David Ingram contributed.