Elon Musk Offers $1 Million Every Day for Voters Who Sign Petition, Prompting Governor’s Warning

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk participates in a town hall-style meeting at Ridley High School in Folsom, Pa., on Oct. 17, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Tesla owner Elon Musk said he would offer $1 million per day to registered voters who sign a petition and delivered a check for the prize money on Saturday to a person who signed up in Pennsylvania.

Musk gave an oversized $1 million check to an attendee of his America PAC event in Harrisburg who was identified as John Dreher, according to event staff.

“By the way, John had no idea. So anyway, you’re welcome,” Musk, who also owns social media platform X, said as he handed Dreher the check.

“We’re going to be awarding a million dollars randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election,” he told the crowd.

Earlier this year, Musk started America PAC, a political action organization he founded in support of former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The group is helping mobilize and register voters in battleground states.

Late last week, the SpaceX CEO had promised his super PAC would pay $100 to Pennsylvania voters who signed the petition, an increase from the initial offering of $47 several weeks ago.

Musk first launched the petition and the referral offer earlier this month, with the petition being in support of the U.S. Constitution’s First and Second amendments.

“If you’re a registered Pennsylvania voter, you & whoever referred you will now get $100 for signing our petition in support of free speech & right to bear arms. Earn money for supporting something you already believe in! Offer valid until midnight on Monday,” Musk wrote on X on Oct. 17.

Pushback

In comments to NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Musk’s $1 million offer and announcement to give money to registered voters in the 2024 battleground state is “deeply concerning” and “something that law enforcement could take a look at.”

“Musk obviously has a right to be able to express his views. He’s made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump. I don’t. Obviously we have a difference of opinion,” the Democratic governor said. “I don’t deny him that, right, but when you start flowing this kind of money into politics, I think it raises serious questions.”

Musk’s announcement also drew criticism from Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California–Los Angeles, who wrote on his website Saturday that it is “clearly illegal.”

“To get the $100 bounty, one also must be a petition signer. And who can sign the petitions? Only registered voters in swing states, which is what makes it illegal,” he wrote.

Musk Goes on Tour

In recent days, Musk has embarked on a speaking tour across Pennsylvania in a bid to drive registrations, adding that the state is critical for whoever wins the 2024 election.

“How Pennsylvania goes I think is how the election goes,” Musk said at a recent event in Dauphin County.

Days before that, Musk appeared alongside Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, months after Trump survived an assassination attempt at the location. On X, Musk indicated that he would be speaking at events in the Keystone State throughout the weekend.

Responding to the Musk efforts in Pennsylvania, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) told the New York Post last week that Musk “is a concern” for Democrats.

“Not even just that he has endorsed [Trump], but the fact that now he’s becoming an active participant and showing up and doing rallies and things like that,” he said.

Fetterman said because Musk is also “incredibly successful,” some see him as a “Tony Stark”-like figure, referring to the Marvel Comics character who becomes the superhero Iron Man.

The 2024 election, he warned, is likely going to be close in Pennsylvania.

“Trump has a connection that’s undeniable. And anyone that spends any time across Pennsylvania can see that kind of devotion and that’s why it’s going to be very close,” Fetterman said. “Pennsylvania picks the president.”

Musk’s super PAC has spent more than $119 million on the 2024 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit political finance tracking website.

Reuters contributed to this report.