So, Is Elon Musk's $1M Offer Actually Legal?

Elon Musk says he'll give $1 million every day from now until the presidential election to a registered voter who signs his petition pledging support for the first two constitutional amendments—but is that even legal? That's the question multiple outlets are weighing in on. Until Tuesday, only people registered to vote in Pennsylvania are eligible, but after that, the contest will be opened up to registered voters in other swing states. Federal law penalizes anyone who "pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting," punishable by up to five years behind bars, CNN reports. Experts who spoke to the New York Times were split.

One campaign finance lawyer says that while he was initially not concerned about the legality of Musk's first monetary incentive, which was to offer $100 to anyone who referred people who then signed the petition, he's now not so sure: "Conditioning the payments on registration arguably violates the law, which prohibits giving anything of value to induce or reward a person for registering to vote." But a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission argues, "He's not paying them to register to vote. He's paying them to sign a petition—and he wants only people who are registered to vote to sign the petition. So I think he comes out OK here." Two winners have been named so far. (More Election 2024 stories.)