Voters sue Musk for fraud in $1 million election sweepstakes

Voters who registered Elon Musk's million-dollar election gift sued Tesla Inc. Chef and his America PAC, claiming participants were deceived in selecting winners.

A day after enduring a legal challenge in Pennsylvania, Musk's daily sweepstakes took a hit on Tuesday new demands in federal courts in Texas and Michigan.

Also Read: Election Case Tracker: Judge Rejects RNC Bid to Stop Counting Mail-in Ballots

Jacqueline McAferty of Arizona claimed she would never have signed the America PAC petition and turned over personal identification information if she had known the winners were not chosen at random and she would not have had a chance to take home $1 million. In reality, the winners were not chosen at random, but were carefully chosen to be the speakers of the project.Donald Trump political action committee.

Elon Musk presents $1,000,000 to Judey Kamora during an America PAC town hall event in Pennsylvania on October 26.

Photographer: Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Musk and the PAC “defrauded” McAferty and others by using the social media platform, according to the proposed class action lawsuit she filed in Austin.

The America PAC gave away $1 million a day leading up to Election Day, but Musk's lawyer revealed at a court hearing in Philadelphia on Monday that the donation was not random. Rather, the PAC selected registered voters from swing states to serve as the committee's public spokespeople, often based on their personal stories, and required them to sign employment contracts, a committee treasurer testified.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk and the PAC to stop them from running an “unlawful lottery” that, he said, “tricked Philadelphians into giving up their personal identifying information and making a political pledge as.” In exchange for a chance to win “$1 million.”

Read more: Musk's $1 million contest survives lawsuit from Philadelphia district attorney

Judge in Pennsylvania Angelo Foglietta on Monday rejected the prosecutor's request to stop the competition.

In her case in Austin, McAferty is seeking an unknown amount of damages and an order requiring Musk and the PAC to destroy their information.

The case in Michigan was filed by Robert Anthony Alvarez, who posed as a citizen supporting the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Alvarez said he signed the petition in support of free speech and gun rights and believed he had a chance to win $1 million because the sweepstakes was advertised as a “non-partisan sweepstakes.”

“A closer look at the recipients of the $1 million prize reveals a clear pattern: Not only is the selection not random, but it is a targeted process that excludes anyone who is not a Republican or vocal supporter of Donald Trump,” like that Complaint submitted by Alvarez.

Musk's lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Texas case is McAferty v. Musk, 24-cv-01346, U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas (Austin). The Michigan case is Alvarez v. Musk, 24-cv-01174, U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan.

To contact the reporter about this story:
Ava Benny Morrison in New York at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at [email protected]

Peter Blumberg, Steve Stroth

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