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Elon Musk announces daily cash giveaways in apparent effort to influence US election outcomes and galvanize Republican voters

Elon Musk announces daily cash giveaways in apparent effort to influence US election outcomes and galvanize Republican voters

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Elon Musk has announced that his PAC, America, will be giving away $1 million per day until the upcoming US presidential election, provided that individuals pledge their support for the first and second amendments. This pledge is part of Musk's efforts to rally support for Donald Trump's campaign. Musk's plan has drawn both praise and criticism, with some seeing it as an attempt to buy votes, while others view it as a genuine attempt to engage with voters. Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania has expressed concern over Musk's plan, suggesting that it could be in violation of laws prohibiting the use of cash to induce voting. Shapiro's concerns are shared by some experts, who warn that Musk's scheme could be seen as an attempt to circumvent these laws.

Cori Bush
Democratic Party
1. Billionaire megadonors and their duplicitous dark money, disinformation-spreading super PACs shouldn't be allowed to influence votes or elections, full stop.
Josh Shapiro
Democratic Party
1. I don't deny him that, right, but when you start flowing this kind of money into politics, I think it raises serious questions.
2. I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the dark money is flowing, not just into Pennsylvania, but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians. That is deeply concerning.
3. Musk obviously has a right to be able to express his views. He's made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump. I don't. Obviously we have a difference of opinion.
Mark Cuban
1. You only do that because you think you have to, but using a sweepstake is not a bad idea. Whether or not it will work is another whole thing. It could just as easily backfire.
Elon Musk
SpaceX
1. We are going to be awarding $1m randomly to people who have signed the petition.
2. One of the challenges we're having is how do we get the public to know about this petition because the legacy media won't report on it.
3. This election, I think, is going to decide the fate of America and, along with the fate of America, the fate of Western civilisation.
Daniel Weiner
Brennan Center for Justice
1. There is certainly an argument that this falls within the scope of a federal prohibition on paying a person to vote or register to vote.
Paul Schiff Berman
George Washington University Law School
1. I believe [Elon] Musk's offer is likely illegal.
Rick Hasen
University of California Los Angeles Law School
1. If all he was doing was paying people to sign the petition, that might be a waste of money. But there's nothing illegal about it.
2. I'd like to hear if there's anyone who thinks this is not a clear case of a violation.
3. I understand some analysis that it's not illegal, but I think here combined with the context it's clearly designed to induce people to register to vote in a way that is legally problematic.
Richard Hasen
University of California, Los Angeles
1. I think signing the petition is irrelevant to the legal question because you must be a registered voter. It doesn't matter if you add other conditions.

Elon Musk announces daily cash giveaways in apparent effort to influence US election outcomes and galvanize Republican voters

Musk's PAC Petition in Pennsylvania

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