Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is suing Elon Musk and his super PAC to block their million-dollar giveaway to registered voters, seeking to halt the lottery-style stunt that election experts, and the Justice Department, have warned might violate federal law.
Krasner is seeking an injunction: He argued in a filing Monday that the effort is an illegal, unregulated lottery, sidestepping the question of whether it violates laws against buying votes.
“America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens — and others in the Commonwealth (and other swing states in the upcoming election) — to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million. That is a lottery,” the suit alleges. “And it is indisputably an unlawful lottery. Under unambiguous Pennsylvania law, all lotteries in Pennsylvania must be regulated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
This month, Musk’s America PAC began giving away $1 million a day to a registered voter who signs a petition pledging support for the First and Second amendments, and $100 to Pennsylvania voters who sign the petition. Musk announced the giveaways while openly and regularly campaigning for former President Donald Trump.
It’s illegal under federal law to pay someone to vote, but Musk insists he isn’t paying people to register. Musk and America PAC have said that their monetary giveaways are to encourage petition signatures. Still, his contest is only open to those in key battleground state and favors Pennsylvania voters by awarding them all $100 each. The Justice Department sent his PAC a warning letter last week but Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who is the world’s richest person, continued to defend the enterprise.
“To be clear, this is not a petition to vote for or register for anyone. It’s really a petition in support of the Constitution of the United States, and in particular, freedom of speech and the right to bear arms,” he said during an online town hall event Friday on his social media platform X.
An attorney representing America PAC did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the suit. A hearing has been scheduled for Friday, Nov. 1 at 10 a.m.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:
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