Elon Musk is offering people $1 million to vote

Tech billionaire Elon Musk presented a $1 million check to an audience on Saturday at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he trumped Trump. And he said he would continue to give that award to one random voter per day until the Nov. 5 presidential election. The move could well violate US election law.

Only people who have signed a petition from Musk's America PAC are eligible for the sweepstakes-style offer. And only registered voters are eligible to sign the petition. Under the terms, Musk will donate $1 million today to someone in Pittsburgh, but later expand it to anyone living in swing states like Georgia, Nevada or Arizona.

It is against federal law to force anyone to vote or register to vote, and Musk's $1 million prize money is “clearly illegal,” writes Rick Hasen, a professor of political science at UCLA, on his Election Law Blog. He cites 52 USC 10307 (c), which states that anyone who “pays or offers to pay or accepts payment to register to vote or to vote” may be subject to a fine of $10,000 or one faces a prison sentence of five years. There are other legally questionable aspects of the pledge, including bonuses for signers and for getting others to sign it.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Meet the press this morning that the offer was “deeply concerning.” He did not call it illegal and explained that he is no longer the state's attorney general, but said the ploy is “something law enforcement can look into.”

Rabbit told NBC News The fact that the petition is only available to registered voters may be why it is overblown. Federal authorities could either prosecute Musk or warn him to stop the plan, he said. The U.S. Department of Justice would have to prosecute him in federal court for violating the law; A federal agency or private party could also file a civil lawsuit.

Both would take some time. Musk could be confident that Trump, who has pardoned allies and is unlikely to see the Justice Department punish a major donor, will win and make the legal questions irrelevant. Even if the former president doesn't win, Musk already has a track record of flouting regulations in the US with little consequence. But conversely, it's an open question to what extent Musk's sweepstakes will help Trump – and whether it can offset rumored weaknesses in the candidate's traditional campaign game.

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