Hearing comes one day before U.S. election

5/11/2024 6:11

        A state judge on Monday allowed Elon Musk’s $1 million-a-day
        giveaway to swing state voters to proceed in Pennsylvania with
        one day to go before the tightly contested U.S. presidential
        election between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,
        Musk’s favored candidate.
        
        Tesla CEO Musk has already given away $16
        million to registered swing state voters who qualified for the
        giveaway by signing his political petition and said the final
        winner will be announced on Election Day on Tuesday.
        
        At a hearing in Philadelphia on Monday, Judge Angelo
        Foglietta rejected Philadelphia District Attorney Larry
        Krasner’s bid to block the giveaways. Krasner alleged the
        payouts amounted to an illegal lottery with hazily defined
        rules.
        
        Since Oct. 19, Musk and his political action committee
        America PAC have been giving a $1 million check every day to a
        voter who has signed his petition supporting free speech and gun
        rights.
        
        Musk's offer is limited to registered voters in the
        seven states expected to decide the election - Arizona, Georgia,
        Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
        
        Musk became an outspoken Trump supporter this year and
        has promoted the former president on his X social media
        platform. He has so far given nearly $120 million to America PAC
        to promote its voter mobilization and registration efforts,
        according to federal disclosures.
        
        Krasner, a champion of progressive causes, called the
        program an illegal lottery that violates state consumer
        protection laws.
        
        Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania, one of
        seven battleground states likely to determine the outcome of the
        race between Trump, a Republican, and Harris, the Democratic
        candidate. Whoever wins the state will receive its 19 electoral
        votes out of a total of 270 needed to win.
        
        The giveaway falls in a gray area of election law, and
        legal experts are divided on whether Musk could be violating
        federal laws against paying people to register to vote.
        
        The U.S. Department of Justice has warned America PAC
        the giveaway could violate federal law, according to media
        reports, but federal prosecutors have not taken any public
        action.
        
        Last week, Musk and America PAC sought to move the case
        to federal court, which temporarily prevented a state court
        judge from ruling on Krasner’s request for an order blocking the
        giveaways. A federal judge swiftly sent the case back to state
        court, setting up Monday’s hearing.