Musk Says He’ll Give $1 Million to Voters Who Petition to Support Gun Rights… Illegal Campaign Controversy

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is helping former US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, was embroiled in a controversy over an illegal election campaign by paying $1 million (about 1.38 billion won ) to voters in swing states every day.

Starting on the 19th (local time), Musk has been asking voters who participate in the petition to support the 1st Amendment (freedom of expression) and 2nd Amendment (right to own guns ) of the American Political Action Committee (PAC), which he created, to vote next month, the day of the presidential election.

In fact, he brought the second winner up on stage at a rally to support former President Trump held outside Pittsburgh on the 20th and presented him with a check for $1 million.

In seven battleground states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada), CEO Musk’s group paid $47 each when a voter who signed the petition brought in another, but he recently increased the amount to $100. In particular, in Pennsylvania, which has the most electoral votes (19) among the battleground states, an event is held where vote $100 if they sign a petition and an additional $100 if they persuade other voters to sign.

The problem is that Musk said he was “registered to vote” as a certification to sign the petition. US media reported that Musk’s campaign is being criticized for violating election laws that prohibit voter ‘buying’. US federal election law prohibits the payment of money or things of value in exchange for voter registration or voting. The US Department of Justice also defines the payment of money to encourage voting or to reward voting as an ‘election crime’.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Sherpiro, a Democrat, appeared on NBC that day and hinted at the possibility of an investigation into CEO Musk’s election campaign, saying, “Law enforcement authorities may review it.” “Musk has the right to express his views,” Shapiro said, but “bringing this kind of money into politics raises serious questions.”

However, some say it’s within legal boundaries because CEO Musk isn’t directly asking people to register to vote and giving them a chance to win a lottery based on their signature on the petition, rather to pay them $1 million. Brad Smith, who was chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) during the Bill Clinton administration, said, “We are in a gray area of ​​the law.”

Billionaire CEO Musk early announced his support for former President Trump and gave $75 million (about 103.3 billion won) to Trump’s election campaign through his ​​​​PAC. More recently, he has been campaigning directly in battleground states such as Pennsylvania.