A move by a super PAC headed by Elon Musk to give $1 million each to two registered voters has been controversial after the group received a prior warning from the Department of Justice not to offer significant voter prizes.
The department warned the billionaire and his political action committee to keep away from high prices attached to voters as this practice would likely fall foul of federal election laws, which have rejected any form of incentive for voting.
Two lucky voters, whose names have not been made public, were part of a voter mobilization drive by Musk’s Super PAC to boost voter turnout. The electoral campaign, which portrayed itself as an attempt to get citizens to participate in the democratic process, was subjected to instant analysis from legal experts and political watchdogs regarding its legality.
Therefore, critics assert that while increasing voter turnout is desperately needed, such massive amounts of money can indeed be regarded as a kind of coercion or even vote buying- technically barred under the present law. Yet, Musk and his PAC did not stop, citing only civic interest in boosting voter turnout in this highly polarized political society.
“This is about empowering individuals and getting more people involved in the democratic process,” said a spokesperson for the PAC when defending the giveaway of prizes. The spokesperson also insisted that there were no terms placed on award recipients’ votes, so this indeed seemed to be a “legal and ethical” move to encourage civic involvement.
However, the DOJ had warned that such acts, even in the absence of direct stipulations on how people must vote, could still be a violation under the federal election guidelines. Federal election guidelines ensure that the conduct of voting shall be free from any improper influence and conditioning by any form of financial incentives or external pressures to a voter while casting votes.
The fallout from the decision is already beginning to emerge, with political commentators and lawyers predicting that this may lead to a formal investigation. Some fear that this ruling could set a very troubling precedent for future elections, while others see the effort as highlighting that voter engagement tactics must modernize in this era of waning participation.
The DOJ hasn’t announced yet whether they will do anything against Musk’s PAC, but of course, the move has definitely caused much uproar in the political scene and again brought up the issue of election integrity as well as the role of money in the game.
