On Oct. 19, Elon Musk introduced the “Petition in Favor of Free Speech and the Right to Bear Arms,” run by Musk’s political action committee (PAC), “America PAC,” which promised to award one million dollars to a different registered voter who signed the petition each day. The petition also promised to award signees who refer others to sign the petition $47 per reference.
Here’s the catch — the program is for swing state voters: “exclusively open to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina,” according to the AmericaPAC website.
Pennsylvania voters are offered a special offer: they can earn $100 per reference. Pennsylvania just so happens to be the swing state with the greatest number of electoral votes and the most electoral power.
The Public Integrity Section of The Justice Department issued a warning to Musk’s America PAC on Wednesday, Oct. 23, citing the federal law that prohibits bribing people to register to vote. In response, no winner was announced on Wednesday, but Musk has continued to announce million-dollar rewards since then.
While the petition does not require you to vote for a particular candidate, the petition (and the chance to win a million dollars) highlights conservative values such as “free speech” and the Second Amendment. Additionally, Musk has publicly endorsed Donald Trump, most recently giving a speech at his Oct. 27 rally in New York City.
“It’s clearly designed to induce people to register to vote in a way that is legally problematic,” Michael Kang, a professor of law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, said in a BBC article.
This petition is clearly meant to influence on-the-fence voters to support Trump, through its usage of Republican rhetoric regarding the Constitution and the PAC’s dedication to fueling the Trump campaign. Elon Musk has put at least $118 million into the PAC, which has funded canvasing initiatives and pro-Trump ads.
In the petition’s description, Elon Musk says he is pledging “support for the First and Second Amendments,”yet he leaves out his true motivation: to receive Trump’s tax cuts.
Trump’s tax plan includes renewing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which would cut the tax rates of corporate company shareholders and corporate domestic production while imposing large tariffs to make up for the loss in governmental revenue from taxes.
Musk already pays little to no taxes each year because he receives no salary from Tesla. Tesla itself doesn’t pay taxes either because it receives government support for electric car production, and the corporation’s operations are structured overseas. Musk only has to pay taxes on shares of stocks that he buys and sells, which explains his $11 billion federal tax bill from 2021.
The world’s wealthiest person, with a net worth of $240 billion, couldn’t possibly need tax cuts. It is unfair that Musk, a man whose daily income is on average $54 million, can influence the election by touting million dollar rewards yet face no actual financial consequence.
To contextualize, Musk’s $118 million dollar investment in America PAC is only 0.6 percent of his yearly income, equivalent to a $387 donation made by a person earning the national average salary of $60,000 a year. His one-million-dollar-a-day contribution is only .006 percent of his yearly income, equivalent to a $3 donation by the average earner described above.
But this money, which is essentially pocket change to Musk, does not have a $387 impact on the election, and especially not a $3 impact.
There are 759 billionaires in America, in contrast with roughly 340 million Americans. The billionaire population makes up a one hundredth-thousandth percent (.000016) of the overall population, yet they get to have more representation and influence over candidacy and policy than anyone else in America.
Musk in specific, besides throwing money at his political henchmen, has spent his time in the political spotlight attacking the legitimacy of mail-in ballots, instilling fear, distrust and paranoia in conservative voters, despite that mail-in ballots have greatly increased voter turnout and accessibility among racially and socioeconomically diverse voters.
Americans must realize that billionaires’ success in business does not mean that their opinions and actions are automatically moral or good-natured. Billionaires should be looked at under a microscope at all times, and the average voter most certainly should not take political advice from a billionaire.
As billionaires continue to create an even larger wealth gap between the working class and themselves, it is clear that they do not operate in the interests of anyone but themselves.
Undue influence will only continue to manipulate the average voter. The political system in America has failed to respond to modern day political issues such as the unimaginable and unethical accumulation of wealth.
The law needs to punish people like Elon Musk. Yet Americans are being betrayed by their government because it relies on Musk for his rocket and satellite production coming from SpaceX. It would be commendable to see the government put citizens first and develop more strict campaign finance laws, because clearly the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is not enough.
Musk’s creation of an exclusive lottery system to influence the election is a reflection of just how much money lets people get away with things.
Celeste Cariker PZ ’28 is from San Juan Capistrano, CA. She intends to major in political studies, and has special interests in social justice and law. In her free time, she plays guitar, lifts weights and listens to music.
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