Government

Elon Musk Needs People Who Care About Him... And Have Law Degrees

Musk's new voter registration lottery is... certainly not what a lawyer would recommend.

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Republican Presidential Candidate Former President Trump Holds Rally In Butler, Pennsylvania

(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Elon Musk has thrown his energy behind the Trump candidacy, adding a certain “pasty-rich-white-man-fudning-a-platform-for-bigots” energy that the campaign was absolutely not lacking. Musk’s efforts to aid Trump’s bid include a dedicated super PAC and paying door knockers in swing states who apparently just took the money and ran. But he also concocted a new “lottery” to pay $1 million a day to lucky people who sign his petition about defending the “Constitution” — which is to say the First Amendment and the Second Amendment and none of that pesky stuff about voting rights or equal protection (unsurprisingly the stuff that the “Constitution” reprinted in the Trump Bible skips too).

Oh, and yeah, this is totally illegal.

Election law expert Rick Hasen addressed Musk’s million-dollar initiative over the weekend at the Election Law Blog:

Though maybe some of the other things Musk was doing were of murky legality, this one is clearly illegal. See 52 U.S.C. 10307(c): “Whoever knowingly or willfully gives false information as to his name, address or period of residence in the voting district for the purpose of establishing his eligibility to register or vote, or conspires with another individual for the purpose of encouraging his false registration to vote or illegal voting, or pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both…” (Emphasis added.)

To further clarify, “For an offer or a payment to violate Section 10307(c), it must have been intended to induce or reward the voter for engaging in one or more acts necessary to cast a ballot….” There are carveouts to protect against someone twisting the law to include “giving your employees the Election day off” or “driving your neighbor to the polls.” But offering a chance at a million dollars is a far cry from those safe harbors.

How could Musk find himself on the illegal end of such a straightforward question? Remember, he owns Twitter right now because he blew off whatever good legal advice he received from his Biglaw counsel and waived due diligence. Then he dragged out his obvious loser of a fight, causing Twitter to run up a massive Wachtell bill that became Elon’s responsibility when he ultimately honored his legal obligation and completed the purchase. Since then, he’s nearly gotten a firm sanctioned and launched a wide-ranging suit against a media watchdog for accurately pointing out how Twitter works. At least in that case his lawyers successfully steered the case to a judge with a huge chunk of Tesla stock and shows no signs of having qualms about the appearance of impropriety.

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Someone out there who cares about Musk needs to step in for his sake. And, ideally, that person would have a law degree.

Elon Musk Veers Into Clearly Illegal Vote Buying, Offering $1 Million Per Day Lottery Prize Only to Registered Voters [Election Law Blog]

Earlier: Twitter Complaint Demonstrates That Every Lawyer, Everywhere, Always Is Smarter Than Elon Musk
Elon Musk Will Beat Twitter! WSJ Says It’s Obvious… Assuming You Change Every Single Fact And Law.
Elon Musk Says Advertisers Are Doing The RICO If They Don’t Give Him Money
Elon Musk Sues Wachtell For Being Better Lawyers

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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