US Election Results: Elon Musk sued by voters for ‘fraud’ over million-dollar giveaway

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his America PAC is being sued by voters who signed up for his million-dollar giveaway, claiming that they were misled about how winners were being chosen.

Day after getting through a legal challenge in Pennsylvania, the SpaceX CEO's daily sweepstakes was met with fresh claims in federal courts in Texas and Michigan on Tuesday.

One of the voters from Arizona, Jacqueline McAferty, alleged that she would never have signed the America PAC petition and handed over personal information, if she had known that the winners weren't picked at random and she stood with zero chances of getting $1 million.

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'Winners not chosen by chance'

A lawyer for Elon Musk's political action committee had told a judge in Philadelphia on Monday that the winners were carefully chosen to be paid "spokespeople" for the group.

GOP lawyer Chris Gober had said that recipients Monday and Tuesday will come from Arizona and Michigan respectively, thus not affecting the Pennsylvania election. The winners are chosen on the basis of their personal stories and they sign a contract with the political organization -- America PAC, he said.

"The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance. We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow," Gober said.

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Musk and PAC reportedly "defrauded" McAferty and others by seeking their support on the billionaire's microblogging platform X, encouraging voters to sign a petition which called for free speech and gun rights with a possibility of "randomly" winning $1 million, the proposed class action complaint filed by McAferty in Austin was cited by Bloomberg.

'Political marketing masked as lottery'

In the lead-up to the November 5 Election day, the America PAC was giving away $1 million every day. In the hearing which took place on Monday, where Musk's lawyer told the judge about how winners were chosen, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner also took the witness stand. He termed the sweepstakes as a 'scam', asking the judge to shut it down.

"This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery. That's what it is. A grift," Krasner testified in court.

Musk and PAC's lawyers said that they do not plan on extending the million-dollar giveaway lottery beyond Tuesday, November 5.

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Krasner had noted that the first three winners, starting on October 19, came from Pennsylvania, which was just two days before the state's voter registration deadline -- October 21.

Winners from other battleground states of Wisconsin, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina and Michigan were also named in this lottery. However, it remained unclear as to whether or not they received the money. As per an exhibit shown in court, PAC promised that the winners will get the money by November 30.

Pennsylvania Judge Angelo Foglietta on Monday dismissed the DA's request to halt the contest.

Notably, McAferty, in her Austin case, is seeking an undisclosed amount as damages and an order requiring Musk and PAC to destroy her personal information.

Case in Michigan

Robert Anthony Alvarez, who identified himself as a state resident supporting Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, filed the case in Michigan.

He had reportedly signed the petition to support free speech and gun rights, while also believing he had a chance of winning $1 million because the sweepstakes was promoted as a "nonpartisan giveaway".

"A closer look at the recipients of the $1 million prize show a clear pattern: that the selection not only is not random, but is a targeted process that eliminates anyone who is not a Republican or vocal supporter of Donald Trump," the complaint filed by Alvarez was cited by Bloomberg.

Notably, no immediate responses were made by the Tesla CEO's lawyers in connection with the lawsuits.

'Unlimited' use of voters' data

Over 1 million people from the seven swing states registered for the sweepstakes by signing the petition which support the first two amendments to the US Constitution. Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner had in court questioned how the PAC might use voters' data, which it will continue to have even after the election is over.

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"They were scammed for their information," Krasner said, "It has almost unlimited use".

John Summers, Krasner's lawyer, described Musk to be the "heartbeat" of the America PAC, saying that he was the one who presented the cheques, "albeit large cardboard cheques". "We don't really know if there are any real cheques," he added.

The chaos over Musk's giveaway comes as the election day is underway in full-swing in the US, with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris engaged in a knife-edge fight in the polls.

(With inputs from agencies)

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