Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Sunday that tech mogul Elon Musk’s plan to give money to registered voters in Pennsylvania is “very concerning” and “it’s something law enforcement could look into.”
Shapiro’s comments on NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’ come a day after Musk announced in Pennsylvania that he would give $1 million every day until Election Day to any registered voter who signs a petition circulated by his super PAC’ in favor of free elections’. expression and the right to bear arms.”
The super PAC has made signing the petition a condition of attending rallies headlined by Musk, and on Saturday he surprised a rally attendee by giving away the first $1 million check on stage.
Shapiro, a Democrat, made clear Sunday that his political differences with Musk, who has backed former President Donald Trump and pledged to use millions of dollars to turn out voters in Pennsylvania for the former president through his super PAC, do not reflect his skepticism of the former president. these cash prizes.
“Musk obviously has the right to express his opinion. He has made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump. Not me. Obviously we have a difference of opinion,” Shapiro said, adding, “I’m not denying that, right, but when you start pouring this kind of money into politics, I think it raises some serious questions.”
There were many questions about the legality of these cash payments Saturday evening, as election law experts pointed to several provisions in federal law that prohibited making cash payments to voters.
Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project and an election law analyst at NBC News, called the payments “clearly illegal” in a post on his website Saturday evening.
He pointed to a federal law, 52 USC 10307(c), which says that any individual who “pays or offers to pay or accepts payment for registration to vote or to vote shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned of not more than five years.” years, or both.”
Hasen told NBC News on Sunday that Musk’s PAC is only offering the payments to registered voters, and not to the general public, which could make the plan illegal.
“What you’re essentially doing is you’re creating a lottery. You’re creating a lottery where the only people eligible to participate in the lottery are people who register to vote, or are registered to vote, and that’s illegal,” Hasen said.
He noted that the general intent behind election laws banning bribery is to prevent people from buying votes, but “you don’t have to say you have to vote for a particular candidate to violate this law. … It could be to incentivize people to register or vote, or to reward them,” Hasen told NBC News on Sunday.
Musk and a representative from America PAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.
It’s unclear whether federal authorities are investigating Musk’s $1 million payments, but Hasen said federal authorities have the option to prosecute Musk or simply issue a warning telling the mogul to stop paying registered voters this way.
“It appears that if this law is enforced, it should be deterred,” Hasen said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
