The head of electoral crimes at the Department of Justice sent a warning letter to Elon Musk’s America PAC organization on Monday, alerting it that it was a crime to knowingly offer anything of value to register to vote or vote, as announced this Wednesday the 24sight News website and confirmed by several American media. The warning letter did not specify any immediate legal action, but did detail the penalties for violating US election laws, including a possible prison sentence of up to five years.
As part of his campaign in favor of the Republican candidate for the presidential elections, Donald Trump, Musk has been raffling off one million dollars a day (920,000 euros) since the weekend among those who sign a declaration in defense of freedom of expression and the right to have firearms. However, to sign it you must be a registered voter, which casts doubt on the legality of these raffles.
Musk began by offering $47 (the next president will be the 47th) to anyone who convinced a new registered voter to sign the petition. He then raised the reward to $100 and decided to pay both the signer and the person who presented it. On Saturday, at a rally in Harrisburg, he announced the million dollar drawings.
Federal law prohibits paying voters to vote or register to vote. It is considered a crime with penalties of up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison. A Department of Justice manual notes that this includes “anything that has monetary value, including cash, liquor,lottery possibilities and social benefits such as food stamps.”
America PAC defends that the draw is legal, because it links it to the signing of the declaration. Robert Heberle, head of the Justice Department’s election crimes branch, wrote in the brief warning letter to America PAC attorney Chris Gober that offering anything of value to influence the vote was a violation of U.S. law that prohibits payments to influence voting, according to 24sight News.
The letter is intended as a warning for America PAC to cease controversial behavior. The Department of Justice has sent more letters to other organizations, according to US media.
Musk, through his organization America PAC, to which he donated 75 million until September to campaign for Trump, will spend 18 million dollars in these raffles. One of the goals of the richest man in the world has been to boost voter registration and early voting, previously demonized by Republicans.
It remains to be seen if the tycoon maintains his raffles despite the warning and, if so, what are the next steps taken by those responsible for electoral integrity at the Department of Justice, headed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
