the essential
The million-dollar lottery launched by Elon Musk and rewarding daily a voter from one of the seven “pivotal states” brings the billionaire before the courts of Pennsylvania. A hearing was held this Thursday, October 31 in his absence, which demands to be tried in federal court.
This Thursday, October 31, a hearing was held before the Pennsylvania Courts concerning the lottery launched by Elon Musk. This lottery rewards every day a voter from one of the “swing states” with pro-Trump ideals.
Since July, the boss of SpaceX, Tesla and X has taken up the cause of Republican candidate Donald Trump against Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris. He inaugurated this lottery on October 19 by handing over a first check for one million dollars to a voter in Pennsylvania, one of the most contested states in the race for the White House. As of the date of the hearing, 13 citizens had already received a check. A fourteenth was given to a voter in Michigan this Friday, November 1, indicated “America PAC”, Elon Musk's political organization which is campaigning for Donald Trump.
A “totally inappropriate” initiative according to Joe Biden
To participate in the drawing, you must be a registered voter in one of the seven states where the presidential election on November 5 will be played and sign a conservative petition in favor of freedom of expression and the right to bear arms. And this is where the main problem with this lottery comes from.
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The US Department of Justice reminded the billionaire's team that it was illegal to offer a valuable reward to a citizen to vote or register to vote. President Joe Biden, for his part, called the initiative “totally inappropriate.”
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Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia prosecutor, filed a civil action on October 28 to obtain a stop to this drawing in order to “protect the population from public nuisances and unfair commercial practices, including illegal lotteries”.
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A hearing Thursday morning to which all parties were convened was held in the absence of Elon Musk. His lawyers had requested the day before that the file be transmitted to federal justice. After considering both sides' arguments, a federal judge in Philadelphia sent the case back to the state courts.
