By Ziyah News Reporter
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has announced that he will give away $1 million a day to a registered voter in key swing states leading up to the US presidential election on November 5.
The recipients will be chosen at random from individuals who sign a pro-US Constitution petition created by Musk’s campaign group, AmericaPAC, which supports Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The first checks were awarded during a town hall event in Pennsylvania over the weekend, drawing both excitement and concern. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, expressed that Musk’s approach is “deeply concerning” and suggested that law enforcement might need to investigate the legality of the payments.
The contest targets voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina—crucial states that could determine the election outcome.
Election law expert Rick Hasen has raised legal concerns about the initiative, noting that existing federal law prohibits payment for voter registration and voting, with violations potentially resulting in significant fines or prison time.
Participants in the petition must provide contact details, allowing AmericaPAC to reach out to them about their voting intentions. In Pennsylvania, voters earn $100 for signing the petition and an additional $100 for each person they refer. In other battleground states, the referral payment is $47.
Despite the cash incentives, some legal experts argue that the strategy may exploit a loophole since voters are not directly paid for casting their ballots. Musk officially launched AmericaPAC in July and has donated $75 million to support Trump’s campaign efforts. The organization has quickly become a pivotal player in the Trump campaign, which heavily relies on external support like AmericaPAC to engage voters.
Musk, the world’s richest man with an estimated net worth of $248 billion, aims to gather over a million signatures for the petition, emphasizing support for the First and Second Amendments. See original @BBC