Elon Musk must face a lawsuit accusing him of running an illegal election lottery tied to his $1 million-a-day giveaway, a federal judge in Texas ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said Arizona voter Jacqueline McAferty plausibly alleged in her proposed class action that Musk and his political committee, America PAC, induced people to sign a petition and provide personal data by suggesting they had a chance to win.
Musk founded America PAC to support Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. McAferty said voters in seven battleground states were promised a random drawing of $1 million recipients, though there was no real opportunity to collect. Petition signers were asked to provide names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.
In seeking dismissal, Musk argued that the payments were not prizes but compensation for serving as spokespeople, noting language that recipients were “selected to earn” money. Pitman pointed to other statements referring to the money as being “awarded” or “won.”
“It is plausible that plaintiff justifiably relied on those statements to believe that defendants were objectively offering her the chance to enter a random lottery—even if that is not what they subjectively intended to do,” Pitman wrote.
Musk also rejected the claim that providing contact information caused harm, but Pitman said an expert could testify on the market value of such data in battleground states.
The lawsuit was filed on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. A Philadelphia judge had declined a day earlier to block Musk’s giveaway. Musk is a Texas resident, and Tesla is based in Austin.
