Some election lawyers said the giveaway may run into laws that prohibit paying people to register to vote.
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Elon Musk at a rally for former president Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pa., this month.
Elon Musk is dramatically ratcheting up his effort to use his fortune to help Donald Trump win Pennsylvania — and inviting some new legal scrutiny along the way.
Mr. Musk announced on Saturday night that he would give $1 million “randomly” once a day to a registered Pennsylvania voter who has signed a conservative petition put together by his super PAC. The sweepstakes is part of Mr. Musk’s push to register voters in the battleground state before a Monday deadline.
Federal law says it is a crime for someone who “pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting.” Guidance from the Justice Department says that includes “anything having monetary value, including cash, liquor, lottery chances, and welfare benefits such as food stamps.”
But some benefits to help people vote are legal and common: Groups can offer voters rides to the polls, for instance, and companies often offer paid leave to allow Americans the time to vote, according to the guidance. And, crucially, Mr. Musk’s allies have argued that because Mr. Musk is not directly paying for voter registration — but rather for a petition signature that happens to be open only to registered voters — it is not illegal.
Since introducing the petition earlier this month, Mr. Musk has gradually been increasing the financial payout to encourage people to sign it. Mr. Musk initially offered people who refer signers $47 per referral. Then, he increased the offer to $100, and said he would pay both the signatory and the referrer directly.
Some election lawyers suggested that Mr. Musk was inching closer to the legal line. On Saturday night at a town hall in Harrisburg, Pa., Mr. Musk offered his first $1 million payment, awarding an oversized check to a voter, John Dreher, whom he called onstage.
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Source: nytimes.com
