Musk’s $1M Voter Payment Program Faces Legal Scrutiny

Elon Musk’s voter payment program has attracted much criticism from election experts as his pro-Trump America PAC introduces never-seen-before cash bonuses to swing-state voters. The program pays $47 for petition signatures, $100 specifically in Pennsylvania, and a daily $1 million prize drawing. Running in seven swing states – Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania – the voter payment scheme entails the participants to complete a supportive petition for “free speech and the right to bear arms.”

Voter Payment Program At Risk For Legal Issues

The U.S. Department of Justice has not given its verdict on the legality of Musk’s voter payment scheme, and the Federal Election Commission considers this to be an unprecedented program. Legal scholars remain divided: GWU Professor Paul Schiff Berman also notes that the voter payment scheme almost certainly violates federal law on payment for registration with penalties of $10,000 or imprisonment for five years. Brad Smith, the former FEC chairman, notes that the program is a legal loophole since it pays for petition signatures, not for the registration of voters.

Adav Noti of Campaign Legal Center explains that the voter payment program is potentially a civil or criminal enforcement. Michael Kang of Northwestern University notes that the initiative itself is patently trying to affect voter registration and Jeremy Paul of Northeastern University concedes that despite his concerns about the program’s purpose, establishing legal violations is never easy.

Political Response to Voter Incentives

The voter payment scheme has been criticized by democratic officials; Governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro called for an investigation into the matter. Dallas Mavericks owner and Harris campaign endorser, Mark Cuban summed it up as “creative and pathetic”. Musk responds by pointing to another Democratic bid which includes $400m by Mark Zuckerberg in 2020 but critics argue Zuckerberg did not directly pay millions of voters as Musk did.

It underlines Musk’s increased political activism via America PAC, which he established and funded with $75m in support of Trump’s presidency. The first million-dollar voter payment was made on October 19 in Pennsylvania with daily payments all through the election on November 5. Although Trump seems to have a friendly relationship with Musk, he avoids the voter payment scheme even as Musk ramps up his campaign involvement and makes inflammatory comments about the Mexico border.