With a network of $270.3 billion, Elon Musk has reached incredible heights of wealth through his companies like Tesla, SpaceX and his current start-up company, xAI. Apart from his multiple contributions to space-related developments, he has also been an advocate for his political opinions and freedom to express his thoughts and viewpoints. Musk is an open advocate for presidential candidate Donald Trump, during the current election campaign.
Since the beginning of the campaigns, Elon Musk’s platform has become rampant with MAGA-related content. He had jokingly claimed, “As you can see, I’m not just MAGA, I’m dark MAGA.” On Oct. 30, 2024, Musk donated approximately $120 million to Donald Trump to support his reelection, becoming Trump’s second-biggest financial backer throughout the season. This is one of the many monetized supports that Musk has provided for the Republican party and Donald Trump, but not the most controversial.
Under the 18 United States § 597, it states that a federal contest on the ballot is prohibited and the body that solicits incentives for the act of voting or registration will either be imprisoned or fined, or both.
Just this October, Musk decided to ramp up the political campaign heat by incentivizing the process of registering to vote with a $1 million lottery for those who register to vote in predicted swing states. This led to legal backlash from the Justice Department; the nature of Musk’s political lottery could potentially violate federal law. The criteria for the million-dollar giveaway violates the term where it is against the law to have people register, vote, or cast a ballot out of the expectation that they will gain financial incentive from the source of influence. Despite the legal setbacks, there has been a stupendous amount of support from far-right citizens, but this leads to the question, what does this mean for the election campaign?
Incentivizing the process of voting goes against the Voting Rights Act due to its repressive nature. It forces bias towards a State or candidate that creates disproportion in voting distribution since in Musk’s case, swing states are key to the election. For the 2024 US Election, it is predicted that Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are critical in the race.
Considering that Musk often appeals to his large group of supporters, it can be said that his financially-backed form of motivation for voters to register at undecided states is one of the many ways that he has been pushing the boundaries of influence and power- a dangerous combination when challenging the limits of the law for personal gain.
