Topline

Elon Musk announced his America PAC will pay $47 for each successful referral of a registered swing state voter to sign a petition “to show support for free speech and the right to bear arms,” as he ramps up his support of former president Donald Trump’s campaign less than a month before the election.

Key Facts

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Big Number

$23.5 million. That’s how much the America PAC would pay out if 500,000—half the goal number of swing state signatories—came from successful referrals.

Is It Legal To Pay Someone To Recruit Petition Signatures?

Yes. It is legal to compensate signature gatherers, or circulators, who collect petition signatures, though the exact laws vary by state. Some states, like Arizona, Florida and Utah, have made it illegal for campaigns or other employers to pay based on the number of signatures gathered—known as pay-per-signature compensation—but it is almost always legal to pay by the hour for time spent soliciting signatories. The America PAC is based in Texas, where there are no specific laws about pay-per-signature compensation.

Contra

While pay-per-signature compensation is legal in some states, some warn it could increase petition signature fraud. NPR’s Ashley Lopez covered a Michigan gubernatorial primary in 2022 that saw more than 68,000 invalid signatures submitted on candidate nomination petitions, some of which were attributed to fraud as canvassers used fake names, or those of dead voters, to fill out petition sheets. While not all invalid signatures can be attributed to fraud, Lopez did say there is an industry-wide opinion that paying people per signature, as opposed to per hour, to solicit petition votes can lead to more fraudulent activity. “What experts are saying is if you pay workers by the hour, there’s…less of an incentive for them to commit fraud,” Lopez said last year. Tammy Patrick, CEO of programs with the Election Center, told NPR that being compensated by signature also “incentivizes getting signatures to the degree that the voter doesn’t understand what they are signing or they are misrepresenting what’s being signed or they are encouraging people to sign even if they are not eligible.” Former Republican state Sen. Vince Leach of Arizona, who sponsored a bill to ban pay-per-signature petition soliciting that was upheld by the state’s supreme court last year, also told the Associated Press that compensating workers per signature increases the likelihood of petition fraud.

Is It Legal To Pay Someone To Register To Vote?

No. Federal law prohibits anyone from paying or offering to pay someone to vote or register to vote, but, like paying petition circulators, it is legal to pay people to encourage others to do so. The America PAC, for instance, pays $30 per hour to people working to increase voter turnout. Earlier this year, the Biden Administration said it would pay college students to help register voters through the Federal Work-Study Program.

What Is The America Pac?

Musk, co-founder of Tesla and owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, created the America PAC in May. Musk said he was committing around $45 million per month to the group, which also includes backers like Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale and the Winklevoss twins. The PAC’s website says it was created to support “secure borders, safe cities, free speech, sensible spending, self-protection and a fair justice system.” As of September, the PAC had about 400 employees in each of seven battleground states, the Guardian reported, and has spent heavily on get-out-the-vote efforts.

Key Background

Musk officially declared his support of former president Trump in the 2024 election in July, after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Since then, Trump has said he wants to create a “government efficiency commission” and said Musk has agreed to lead it, and Musk made his first campaign appearance over the weekend at a repeat of the Butler rally. Musk called Trump the only candidate “to preserve democracy in America” and encouraged his supporters to vote next month.

Forbes Valuation

Musk, the richest person in the world, is worth an estimated $263.3 billion as of Monday morning.

Further Reading

the GuardianTrump ground game operation now largely run by Elon Musk-backed groupNPRThe price of a ballot signature is way up, and experts worry it’s encouraging fraudForbesElon Musk Says He’ll Attend Trump Rally At Site Of Assassination Attempt: Here’s Everything They’ve Said About Working TogetherBy Mary Whitfill RoeloffsForbesTrump Suggests He Would Give Elon Musk A Cabinet Position In Second TermBy Molly Bohannon