Judge rules Musk’s America PAC can continue $1 million prizes

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X looks on during the Milken Conference 2024 Global Conference Sessions at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 6, 2024. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X looks on during the Milken Conference 2024 Global Conference Sessions at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 6, 2024. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
Peter Hall, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
November 05, 2024Frontpage news and politics

PHILADELPHIA — Following a more than five-hour hearing Monday, Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta ruled that Elon Musk’s America PAC can continue to give out $1 million prizes, rejecting a lawsuit by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who claimed that the giveaways are an illegal lottery.

America PAC’s attorneys argued that since the winners were not chosen at random, the giveaways to registered voters were not a lottery, which was at the heart of Krasner’s argument.

Musk announced on Oct. 7 that the PAC would pay Pennsylvania registered voters $47 to sign its petition in support of free speech and gun rights. The amount offered later increased to $100. At a rally in Harrisburg for former President Donald Trump on Oct. 19, Musk announced those who signed the petition and were registered to vote in Pennsylvania and six other swing states in the presidential election would be eligible to be chosen to win $1 million.

Election law experts have told the Capital-Star that the sweepstakes likely violates a federal law against paying people to register to vote.

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