KENT COUNTY, Mich. — A West Michigan man filed a lawsuit on Election Day against Elon Musk, alleging his America Super PAC was dishonest about how they chose people to win their million-dollar voter petition giveaway.
On Oct. 20, the America PAC announced they would begin giving away $1 million every day until the election.
To earn the price, you had to sign an online petition to “support Free Speech & Right to Bear Arms.”
Signees were required to be registered voters living in one of seven battleground states.
“The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. By signing below, I am pledging my support for the First and Second Amendments,” the webpage hosting the petition reads. “Our goal is to get 1 million registered voters in swing states to sign in support of the Constitution, especially freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. This program was exclusively open to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina.”
Four people from Michigan ended up receiving million-dollar payments: Jason Cochran of Holland, Jason Timmerman of Hastings, Ronald Conwell of Clarkston, and Tyler VanAkin of Reading.
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A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by Kent County voter Robert Alvarez argues that Musk and the America PAC were dishonest about how winners would be selected.
“This petition was marketed and promoted as an opportunity for any individual who signed the petition to be awarded $1 million dollars if they were ‘randomly’ selected,” the lawsuit claims.
According to court documents, Alvarez signed the online petition on Oct. 29.
“Alvarez believed that though the odds may not have been favorable, there was still a chance that he could be randomly selected to win the $1 million award offered by Musk and his PAC,” the documents explain.
“However, on November 4, 2024, Alvarez learned through various reporting from news outlets online that Musk and his PAC’s attorneys made representations in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to Judge Angelo Foglietta in which they confirmed that the awarding of the $1 million dollars was not 'random' and was, in fact, redetermined.”
According to AP News, attorneys for Musk and the PAC told Judge Foglietta that the winners were “paid spokespeople” and that they were not “chosen by chance.”
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Alvarez claims in the lawsuit that the majority of people selected for the giveaway are registered Republicans or have publicly expressed support for the party.
Seeking unspecified damages, Alvarez believes he was misled by deceptive marketing. He argues that America PAC never intended to fulfill their giveaway as originally presented.
Michael McDaniel, currently a constitutional law professor at WMU Cooley, feels that while Judge Foglietta’s ruling in Pennsylvania allowed America PAC to continue its daily giveaway, it could violate federal law.
“I think it was an attempt, under federal law, an unlawful attempt, to seek to register Republican voters, or voters that will be so supportive of Trump,” McDaniel explained Wednesday. “The Department of Justice has not acted on that, and they are the ones that would have to do that… through a local U.S. attorney, or else through the DOJ proper in DC.”
McDaniel says the civil suit could be difficult to win in court.
“I do think that this is a federal crime, but whether or not there's a civil action under state law for this is a little bit of a stretch,” he explained Wednesday. “I think he's going to have a hard time proving that, because he lacks damages, and, in fact, it's difficult to show that you were injured, because, you know, you're participating in a game of chance.”
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