USA Criticism of Musk's million-dollar gifts to US voters
Tech billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk is facing criticism for his plan to give away one million dollars a day to a registered voter in particularly hard-fought US states. The Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, said that investigative authorities could look into the scheme. Law professor Rick Hasen argued that Musk's actions were illegal. Meanwhile, the Tesla boss awarded the second million on Sunday in Pennsylvania, where the outcome of the US presidential election could be decided on November 5.
21.10.2024, 07:37
21.10.2024, 10:15
SDA
Musk's award of one million dollars (a good 900,000 euros) "at random" is aimed at registered voters who sign a petition. This is in support of "freedom of expression and the right to bear arms" and was launched by Musk's organization "America PAC". This organization supports the election campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Law professor: offer only to registered voters a problem
According to Musk, the lottery is intended to raise awareness of the petition. However, Hasen, a professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, sees a serious problem in the fact that only registered voters can take part. This could be interpreted as the lottery creating an incentive to register - and according to US election law, it is illegal to pay citizens money to vote or register to vote.
Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro said on US television station NBC that there were overall questions about how Musk was using money in the US election campaign. Money that is now also going directly into the pockets of residents in Pennsylvania. "This is extremely worrying."
Musk handed over the first check in Harrisburg and the second in Pittsburgh. He said his goal was to get between one and two million voters in the battleground states to sign the petition because "this is an important message to our elected politicians". In Pennsylvania, every registered voter who signs the petition will receive $100. The state could be particularly important because it has 19 electors. To win the presidential election, 270 electoral votes are needed.
Musk wants to mobilize in swing states
Musk's aim is likely to be to get a particularly large number of conservatives to register to vote in the hard-fought states. Musk has been supporting Republican Trump financially for some time with donations in the millions. According to documents from the US election authority FEC, the Tesla boss has donated around 75 million dollars (69 million euros) in tranches to the "America PAC", which is supporting Trump in the election campaign, within three months. On his online platform X, Musk continues to spread Trump's political positions - and also claims without any evidence that the Democrats flew immigrants into the USA to turn the election.
Trump is running against Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential election on November 5. Musk, who often promotes conspiracy theories, has been supporting Trump for some time. The Tesla boss also regularly campaigns against Harris. Trump recently hinted that Musk could be appointed head of a committee to review US finances if he wins the election. Musk should cut government spending, according to Trump. The billionaire often complains about the allegedly excessive demands made by authorities on Tesla and SpaceX, the aerospace company he also runs.
