A contest announced by Elon Musk to giveaway $1 million per day to voters in swing states ahead of the 2024 election has drawn pushback and a lawsuit in Pennsylvania.
Another lawsuit is coming with a Michigan voter filing a lawsuit related to the lack of randomness in picking contest winners.
What Happened: A lawyer for Musk argued that the $1 million giveaways were not illegal as the winners were not picked at random. That very argument could end up hurting Musk with a new lawsuit recently filed.
Michigan resident Robert Alvarez filed a federal lawsuit against Musk and his America Super PAC on Tuesday, as reported by Fox17.
The lawsuit centered on Musk and the Super PAC allegedly being dishonest about selecting winners. Alvarez said he was misled by deceptive marketing and the giveaway promise was never completed as promised.
To be eligible for the contest, voters had to sign an online petition supporting the First and Second Amendments and live in one of seven swing states, which included Michigan.
"This petition was marketed and promoted as an opportunity for any individual who signed the petition to be awarded $1 million dollars if they were ‘randomly' selected," the lawsuit says.
Alvarez was one of many Michigan voters who signed the online petition, with the lawsuit saying he signed on Oct. 29 and did not win any of the prizes.
"Alvarez believed that though the odds may not have been favorable, there was still a chance that he could be randomly selected to win the $1 million award offered by Musk and his PAC."
Alvarez was later made aware from news reports that Musk's lawyers fighting a lawsuit in Pennsylvania said the winners were not randomly selected, but rather predetermined.
Musk's lawyer Chris Gober told Judge Angelo Foglietta that the winners were not random and were "paid spokespeople."
"The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance. We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow," Gober said in court.
The lawsuit claims the majority of people who won the giveaway were registered Republicans or people who have publicly supported the party.
Alvarez is seeking unspecified damages in the lawsuit according to the report.
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Why It's Important: In mid-October, Musk announced that he would give away $1 million daily to voters in the seven swing states who signed the online petition.
"We're going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election," Musk said.
Four people in Michigan were awarded $1 million payouts as part of the giveaways, according to the report.
Law professor Michael McDaniel told Fox17 the giveaway could violate federal law.
"I think it was an attempt, under federal law, an unlawful attempt, to seek to register Republican voters, or voters that will be so supportive of Trump," McDaniel said.
McDaniel said the civil lawsuit could be difficult to win, and the Department of Justice may have to target the giveaway to declare it unlawful.
"I do think that this is a federal crime, but whether or not there's a civil action under state law for this is a little bit of a stretch."
The professor said it'll be tough for Alvarez to prove damages due to the giveaway being like "participating in a game of chance."
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