Law enforcement should take a look at Elon Musk's voter payments

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday that tech mogul Elon Musk's plan to donate money to registered voters in Pennsylvania was “deeply concerning” and “that law enforcement could take a look at it.”

Shapiro's comments on NBC News' “Meet the Press” come a day after Musk announced in Pennsylvania that he would donate $1 million every day until Election Day to a random registered voter circulating one spread by his super PAC Sign petition “in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms.”

The super PAC has made signing the petition a requirement for attending rallies led by Musk, and on Saturday it surprised a rally attendee by giving away the first $1 million check on stage.

Shapiro, a Democrat, made clear on Sunday that his political differences with Musk, who supports former President Donald Trump and has promised to spend millions of dollars to turn out voters in Pennsylvania for the former president through his super PAC These cash prizes do not trigger skepticism.

“Musk obviously has the right to express his views. He's made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump. I don't. “Obviously we have different opinions,” Shapiro said, adding, “I don't deny him that, right, but when you start pouring that kind of money into politics, I think it raises serious questions.”

Questions abounded Saturday evening about the legality of these cash payments, as election law experts pointed to various provisions in federal law that prohibit cash payments to voters.

Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project and an election law analyst for NBC News, called the payments “clearly illegal” in a post on his website Saturday night.

He pointed to a federal law, 52 USC 10307(c), which states that any person who “pays, offers to pay, or accepts payment to register to vote or to vote shall be liable to a fine of not more than $10,000.” -$ or a prison sentence of not more than five years or both.”

Hasen told NBC News on Sunday that Musk's PAC is offering the payments only to registered voters and not the general public, which could make the system illegal.

“Basically what you are doing is creating a lottery. “They are creating a lottery where the only people eligible to participate in the lottery are those who are registered to vote or are registered to vote, and that is illegal,” Hasen said.

He noted that the general intent behind election laws that prohibit bribery is to prevent people from buying votes, but “you don't have to say you have to vote for a particular candidate to violate that law.” “…It can either be about motivating people to register or vote, or it can be about rewarding them,” Hasen told NBC News on Sunday.

Musk and a representative for America PAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.

It's unclear whether federal authorities are looking into Musk's $1 million payments, but Hasen said federal authorities have the option of prosecuting Musk or simply issuing a warning asking the mogul to stop making the payments to hire registered voters in this way.

“It seems like if this law is going to be enforced, it needs to be deterred,” Hasen said.