As of: November 5th, 2024 7:13 a.m
The tech billionaire Musk gave away a million dollars a day for around two weeks to particularly convinced Trump supporters. The public prosecutor saw this as an illegal lottery – but has now lost its lawsuit in court.
A court has declared Tesla boss Elon Musk’s controversial raffle of one million dollars per day to be permissible. A judge in the state of Pennsylvania rejected the request for a preliminary injunction.
The decision has more of a symbolic meaning, because the daily award of one million dollars to one person ends anyway on today’s election day.
One million dollars for registered voters
Musk announced in mid-October that he would give one million dollars a day to a registered voter in particularly hotly contested US states until the election. He handed over the first million-dollar checks in Pennsylvania.
The state could be particularly important because it has 19 electors. To win the presidential election you need 270 electoral votes.
Paid Ambassador role for Trump
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner accused Musk and his organization “America PAC” of running “an illegal lottery.” Musk’s sweepstakes violated a Pennsylvania law that requires all lotteries in the state to be regulated by the state, he argued, among other things.
During the negotiation, however, it became known that the winners would not be drawn at random, as Musk claimed. Rather, Musk representatives said they would select people who best embodied a pro-Trump agenda. The people who would receive the money would be paid for their role as ambassadors.
Petition for “free speech and the right to bear arms”
The campaign was aimed at registered voters who signed a petition. It’s about “freedom of expression and the right to bear arms.”
The petition was launched by Musk’s organization “America PAC”. This supports the election campaign of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
US warningMinistry of Justice
US election law prohibits paying citizens money to vote or register. According to Musk, the million-dollar gift is intended to bring more attention to the petition.
However, critics see a problem in the fact that only registered voters can take part. This could be interpreted as meaning that giving money creates an incentive to register. The US Department of Justice issued a warning.
