A lawyer for Elon Musk’s political action committee told a Philadelphia judge that the winners of his $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes in swing states haven’t won by chance, but were selected to be paid “spokespeople” for the group.
According to Chris Gober, the PAC is choosing recipients based on their personal stories and has them sign a contract. The judge heard that the final recipients will be announced from Arizona on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday, which means continuing the giveaways won’t affect the Pennsylvania election.
However, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner believes this violates state election law and contradicts Musk’s promise to award the money “randomly” to people who signed a petition. The PAC has pledged to pay out by November 30.
Krasner questioned how the PAC will use the data of over 1 million registered sweepstakes participants, which could have unlimited use. The District Attorney also accused Musk of scamming people for their information, as it can be used extensively.
The lawsuit claims that the defendants are “indisputably violating” Pennsylvania’s lottery laws. Krasner has said he may consider criminal charges and is seeking civil damages for the registrants.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/musk-million-sweepstakes-lottery-pennsylvania-krasner-4f683c48eb7dcc57f183e54ef16e7320