Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Elon Musk Backtracks on a Legally Questionable Plan to Pay Voters
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 3 weeks ago on
March 28, 2025

Elon Musk disembarks Marine One as he boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport in Morris County, N.J. on Saturday, March 22, 2025. Elon Musk is walking back part of his legally questionable plan to pay conservative voters. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk is walking back part of his legally questionable plan to pay conservative voters.

During the presidential election, Musk courted conservative-leaning voters by offering $1 million payouts in a sweepstakes to those who agreed to sign a petition. Federal law prohibits payments to Americans in exchange for their registering to vote or casting ballots. Musk’s allies argued that he was not doing that, but merely paying people who signed a petition.

Musk, the world’s richest person, has returned to the tactic as he tries to elect a conservative judge, Brad Schimel, in a major race for control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The billionaire has offered a chance to earn $1 million to signers of a petition opposing “activist judges.”

Musk’s Initial Offer and Subsequent Deletion

Early Friday, Musk took it a big step further: He told his 219 million followers on the social site X that when he visited Wisconsin on Sunday, he would hand out two $1 million checks to people who had already voted in the election “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.” The offer was open only to those who had already voted, he said.

But later on Friday, Musk quietly deleted his post on X.

About 12 hours after that initial post, he said he had to “clarify a previous post.” He wrote that “entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges,” adding, “I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition.”

Legal Scrutiny and Potential Violations

Musk, whose shoot-from-the-hip approach on his social media site has gotten him in plenty of legal trouble over the years, appeared to be bowing to the legal scrutiny that was building Friday.

It is Wisconsin law, not federal law, that applies, and the state’s Democratic attorney general, Josh Kaul, on Friday sued to block Musk’s payments. (In a curious twist of fate, the case was randomly assigned to Susan Crawford, the liberal judge whom Musk is trying to defeat. She quickly recused herself.)

Several experts argued before Musk’s deletion of his post that his new inducement, which seemed to condition the chance of winning $1 million on voting, was illegal under state bribery laws.

“Conditioning entrance to this event and eligibility for the $1 million payout on having voted arguably violates Wisconsin law, which prohibits offering or giving anything of value to induce a person to vote,” said Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance lawyer who has defended the legality of some of Musk’s petition payouts.

Bryna Godar, a staff attorney at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said that Musk’s original offer was “pretty clearly” a violation of state bribery laws. While Musk’s offer before the November 2024 election was a “gray area,” Godar said, “the key difference here is that the rally and the million-dollar payments are limited to people who have already voted.”

Controversy and Media Attention

Part of the reason for Musk’s petition and payouts has been to gin up controversy and attention from the news media. His 2024 petition was challenged in Pennsylvania state court just before Election Day, and a state judge declined to put a stop to it.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Theodore Schleifer/Eric Lee

c.2025 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Chargers in Need of Help at Wide Receiver and Tight End in the NFL Draft

DON'T MISS

Magic Happens When Kids and Adults Learn to Swim. Tragedy Can Strike if They Don’t.

DON'T MISS

Big Fresno Fair Board Will Be Led by an American Sikh for 1st Time

DON'T MISS

AI ‘Friend’ for Public School Students Falls Flat

DON'T MISS

Is a ‘Friend-Apist’ What We Really Want From Therapy?

DON'T MISS

Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Report US Strikes in the Capital and a Coastal City

DON'T MISS

Progressive Icon and Ex-US Rep. Barbara Lee Wins Race for Mayor of Oakland

DON'T MISS

Humanoid Robots Run a Chinese Half-Marathon Alongside Human Competitors

DON'T MISS

Bakersfield Push to Restore Kern River Seeks to Revitalize City

DON'T MISS

Anti-Trump Protesters Turn Out to Rallies Across Country

UP NEXT

Magic Happens When Kids and Adults Learn to Swim. Tragedy Can Strike if They Don’t.

UP NEXT

AI ‘Friend’ for Public School Students Falls Flat

UP NEXT

Is a ‘Friend-Apist’ What We Really Want From Therapy?

UP NEXT

Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Report US Strikes in the Capital and a Coastal City

UP NEXT

Progressive Icon and Ex-US Rep. Barbara Lee Wins Race for Mayor of Oakland

UP NEXT

Humanoid Robots Run a Chinese Half-Marathon Alongside Human Competitors

UP NEXT

Bakersfield Push to Restore Kern River Seeks to Revitalize City

UP NEXT

Anti-Trump Protesters Turn Out to Rallies Across Country

UP NEXT

Universal Studios Fan Fest 2025 to Feature Immersive D&D Attraction and More

UP NEXT

Thousands Gather in London for Trans Rights Following UK Ruling Over Definition of Woman

AI ‘Friend’ for Public School Students Falls Flat

17 hours ago

Is a ‘Friend-Apist’ What We Really Want From Therapy?

18 hours ago

Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Report US Strikes in the Capital and a Coastal City

1 day ago

Progressive Icon and Ex-US Rep. Barbara Lee Wins Race for Mayor of Oakland

1 day ago

Humanoid Robots Run a Chinese Half-Marathon Alongside Human Competitors

1 day ago

Bakersfield Push to Restore Kern River Seeks to Revitalize City

1 day ago

Anti-Trump Protesters Turn Out to Rallies Across Country

1 day ago

Universal Studios Fan Fest 2025 to Feature Immersive D&D Attraction and More

2 days ago

Thousands Gather in London for Trans Rights Following UK Ruling Over Definition of Woman

2 days ago

250 Years After America Went to War for Independence, a Divided Nation Battles Over Its Legacy

2 days ago

Chargers in Need of Help at Wide Receiver and Tight End in the NFL Draft

EL SEGUNDO — In their first season together, Los Angeles Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz and coach Jim Harbaugh rebuilt the team enough ...

17 hours ago

17 hours ago

Chargers in Need of Help at Wide Receiver and Tight End in the NFL Draft

17 hours ago

Magic Happens When Kids and Adults Learn to Swim. Tragedy Can Strike if They Don’t.

17 hours ago

Big Fresno Fair Board Will Be Led by an American Sikh for 1st Time

17 hours ago

AI ‘Friend’ for Public School Students Falls Flat

18 hours ago

Is a ‘Friend-Apist’ What We Really Want From Therapy?

1 day ago

Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Report US Strikes in the Capital and a Coastal City

1 day ago

Progressive Icon and Ex-US Rep. Barbara Lee Wins Race for Mayor of Oakland

1 day ago

Humanoid Robots Run a Chinese Half-Marathon Alongside Human Competitors

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend