Justice Department warns Elon Musk his $1 million lottery for registered voters may be illegal

The Justice Department’s public integrity section has sent a warning letter to Elon Musk’s America PAC, warning that it is a crime to knowingly knowingly offer anything of value to register to vote or vote, as reported by 24sight News and confirmed by several U.S. media outlets. The warning letter did not specify any immediate legal action but did detail penalties for violating U.S. election laws, including a possible prison term of up to five years.

As part of his campaign to support the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Musk has been giving away $1 million a day since last weekend to a person randomly picked among those who sign a petition in support of the First and Second amendments, which include freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. However, in order to sign it, you must be a registered voter in one of the seven swing states, which raises questions about the legality of these lotteries.

Musk started by offering $47 (the next president will be the 47th) to anyone who could convince a new registered voter to sign the petition. He then raised the reward to $100 and decided to pay both the signee and the person who refers them. On Saturday, at a rally in Harrisburg, he announced the million-dollar sweepstakes.

Federal law prohibits paying people to vote or register to vote. It is a crime punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison. A DOJ manual says that “the bribe may be anything having monetary value, including cash, liquor, lottery chances, and welfare benefits such as food stamps.”

America PAC maintains that the lottery is legal because it is about signing a petition. But Robert Heberle, Director of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section’s Election Crimes Branch, wrote in the brief warning letter to America PAC’s attorney, Chris Gober, that offering anything of value to influence the vote was a violation of U.S. law, according to 24sight News.

The letter is intended as a warning to America PAC. The DOJ has sent letters to other organizations, according to U.S. media.

Musk, through his America PAC organization, to which he donated $75 million to September to fund Trump’s campaign, will spend $18 million on these lotteries. One of the goals of the richest man in the world has been to boost voter registration and early voting, previously demonized by Republicans.

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