The case is a scary peek at the future of buying votes.
Elon Musk is allowed to continue giving away $1 million each day in a voter “sweepstakes” that’s not really a sweepstakes, according to a ruling from a Pennsylvania judge on Monday. The case was brought by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who argued the pro-Trump giveaway violated Pennsylvania election law and the judge gave no explanation for his ruling, according to the Associated Press. And while the win is largely symbolic, since Election Day is tomorrow, it’s still a bit scary when you think about what billionaires might try in elections of the future.
America PAC, which is swimming in at least $120 million of Musk’s personal money, launched the cash giveaways Oct. 19, pledging to give out $1 million at random to people who met three conditions: They were registered to vote, lived in a battleground state, and signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments. Musk said at the time he’d be “awarding a million dollars randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election.”
Just about any normal person saw this as a way to excite and mobilize voters for Donald Trump in crucial states during the lead-up to Nov. 5’s presidential election, essentially paying them for their votes. But Musk, who’s tipped to be the head of a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) if Trump wins, insisted everything was on the up-and-up. And somehow Judge Angelo Foglietta in Pennsylvania has agreed with him.
Musk’s lawyer Chris Gober insisted in court Monday that the $1 million was actually a “salary” rather than private lottery winnings, the latter being illegal in the state of Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” Gober said. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
But that still sounds like pretty standard deception if people signed up believing Musk’s cash giveaway operated like any other sweepstakes, which does operate by chance.
Outside of Pennsylvania, other winners for the promotion have been in Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan, though no state officials in any of those states have tried to challenge Musk in court. The U.S. Justice Department sent America PAC a letter warning of the possibility it might be breaking the law by handing out millions of dollars but has not brought any action against Musk or his PAC.
Monday’s ruling is just the latest legal win for Musk, who appears to be Teflon in court. Experts have repeatedly warned that if Musk is allowed to get away with handing out $1 million for votes (even if the Tesla CEO insists that’s not what he’s doing) it will set a very bad precedent for future elections. With the way that political campaigns are allowed to target voters these days, what’s to stop any wealthy person from handing out stacks of cash with some kind of plausible deniability about what it’s for? This country is, in many ways, simply a joke in the post-Trump era.
Musk didn’t immediately respond to an email Monday evening. Gizmodo will update this post if we hear back.
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