Musk settles fraud suits over $1 million voter sweepstakes

Elon Musk has agreed to settle two lawsuits that accused his $1 million‑a‑day voter giveaway of being a fraud. The suits were filed by two Arizona residents in Austin, Texas, and the settlement amount has not been disclosed. Musk’s promise in 2024 to award a daily $1 million prize to a randomly chosen registered voter in a swing state sparked legal challenges and questions about its legality. Philadelphia’s District Attorney sued to block the giveaway, calling it an illegal lottery. During a hearing, Chris Gober, representing Musk’s America PAC, told the judge that “The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance … We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow,” directly contradicting Musk’s claim of random selection. The plaintiffs said they would not have signed the required petition to enter the sweepstakes had they known the drawings were not random. They also accused Musk and America PAC of using the petition to harvest personal data, noting the petition placed no limits on how the data could be used or sold and gave no details about its intended use. ## Context These lawsuits highlight how political fundraising tactics that resemble sweepstakes can run afoul of state gambling laws and raise privacy concerns when personal information is collected without clear safeguards.