As a world-renowned millionaire, Musk announced the launch of a million-dollar lottery as the US election approaches.

Directly "throw money" to cheer for Trump

On Saturday local time, Musk said during a campaign event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that starting from now on, he would randomly award $1 million a day to a voter who signed a petition until the end of the election.

The petition Musk referred to was a campaign launched by the U.S. Political Action Committee (America PAC) that asked voters to commit to support the First and Second Amendments to protect freedom of speech and the right to bear arms.

At the event, Musk immediately wrote a check for $1 million to the first lucky person, John Dreher.

Pennsylvania is a key swing state in this U.S. election. Currently, both Trump and Harris are stepping up campaign propaganda efforts in the state.According to the U.S. Political Action Committee website, in addition to Pennsylvania, signers from Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina are also eligible to participate in the draw over the next 15 days.

It is worth noting that the petition requires registered voters to fill in information such as name, address and phone number, which will allow the U.S. Political Action Committee to collect more contact information of potential voters and encourage them to vote for Trump.

Earlier this month, Musk also announced that voters who have signed petitions can recommend registered voters in other swing states before October 21 to sign the petition, and successful recommendations will receive $47.Last week, Musk increased his offer to Pennsylvania voters, giving each referee $100.

Through the U.S. Political Action Committee, Musk has become a huge donor to the Republican Party.Musk donated approximately $75 million to the committee in the third quarter of 2024, nearly half of the organization's total fundraising, while the committee spent approximately $72 million between July and September to support Trump's presidential campaign.

According to Forbes data, as of October 20, Musk's net worth was approximately US$247.4 billion, making him the richest man in the world.Trump's net worth is approximately US$5.5 billion, ranking 615th in the world.

Suspected of breaking the law?

Musk's simple and crude "money-throwing method" quickly attracted controversy.

Although Musk said the purpose of launching the raffle was to "maximize awareness of our petition in support of the Constitution," many people still question the legitimacy of the move.

Rick Hasen, a political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, believes Musk's actions violate federal law.Hasson said in an interview that if Musk just paid people to sign petitions, it would be simply spending money and there was nothing illegal.But the problem is that only registered voters are eligible to participate in this event, which is another matter.

"So it's essentially a raffle that's only open to people registered to vote," Hasen said.So it's either an incentive to vote or a reward.Either way, it violates federal law.”

"When people vote, they should choose freely, and they should not vote for economic interests, because those interests influence voters.Hasen said of the federal election law,"If people vote purely for personal financial gain, rather than choosing whether to register to vote, whether to vote and for whom, then the nature of voting changes."”

Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro also criticized Musk's giving behavior.He believes Musk has a right to express his views,"but when you start putting this kind of money into politics, I think it raises some serious issues that people may need to pay attention to."Notably, Shapiro is the state's former attorney general and an agent for Vice President Harris 'campaign.