SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk participates in a town hall-style meeting to promote early and absentee voting at Ridley High School on October 17, 2024 in Folsom, Delaware County. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Attorneys for billionaire CEO Elon Musk’s America PAC are seeking to have a lawsuit filed by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner moved to federal court, because they say it deals with matters under federal jurisdiction.
Krasner filed the civil suit on behalf of the commonwealth in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas on Monday, alleging that the $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes Musk has been conducting in Pennsylvania is an illegal lottery.
“To be clear, this is not a case about whether Defendants have violated state or federal laws prohibiting vote-buying. Instead, this case is very simple because America PAC and Musk are indisputably violating Pennsylvania’s statutory prohibitions against illegal lotteries and deceiving consumers,” Krasner’s says.
Krasner’s suit seeks an injunction to stop America PAC and Musk from continuing the violations. It says allowing them to continue would irreparably harm Philadelphia and Pennsylvania residents and “tarnish the public’s right to a fee and fair election.”
In a filing late Wednesday, America PAC’s attorneys argued that the state court was not the proper venue for the lawsuit, since “this matter involves claims that are inherently federal in nature,” due mainly to Krasner’s allegation that the $1 million giveaways amount to interference in a federal election for President of the United States. They seek to move the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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, then 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 randomly selected 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. Gov. Josh Shapiro said in an interview on “Meet the Press” on Oct. 20 that the payments are “deeply concerning,” although he stopped short of calling for an investigation.
America PAC on Wednesday revealed its latest $1 million winner from North Carolina. The PAC said winners would be announced daily through Election Day.
This is a developing story