News @lemmy.world QuantumSpecter @lemmy.world 12 hr. ago

Is Musk's $1m-a-day cash giveaway to US voters legal?

www.bbc.co.uk Is Musk's $1m-a-day cash giveaway to US voters legal?

Nearly a dozen former Republican officials have urged the US justice department to look into Mr Musk's cash incentive to voters.

39 comments

Not the right question. The question is whether he will see any consequences for it.
What’s anyone gonna do about it? You can’t even prosecute a former president who attempted a coup.
No,

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/597

""" Whoever makes or offers to make an expenditure to any person, either to vote or withhold his vote, or to vote for or against any candidate; and

Whoever solicits, accepts, or receives any such expenditure in consideration of his vote or the withholding of his vote—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 721; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 601(a)(12), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3498.) """

2 years in jail per incident sounds fair
Probably not but Merrick Garland ain't going to do anything about it so what does it matter?
It ain't effectively illegal if no one is enforcing the laws... but it's scummy as fuck and most people think it should be banned.
No. It is not.
No.

But he'll get away with it anyway.
- You can tell because he can afford enough lawyers to not be punished.
  
  Honestly, we are maybe 5 years from the rich hunting is for sport because they can afford the legal team to defend it
Sign that paper, maybe get the money, still vote for Harris 👍
- I have seen a few legal theorists saying there's a possibility that's illegal too. And if I had to gamble on who's more likely to get fucked over between Elon and a regular person? I'd probably be willing to bet all of Elon's money on the regular person getting shafted
  
  If you look at the law linked in the other post.. who makes an offer to.. and who accepts an offer to. So both parties would be breaking the law. And I'll bet Elon will have more ability to avoid consequences than normal people would.
  
  There’s no way they can see your vote. Doesn’t matter anyways.
  
  A country ain’t a democracy if your vote is public. See singapore as an example. The government gives all sorts of benefits and gifts to voters who vote for them.
- I was going to do that, but I don't want my phone number and email on a Musk list. Like, what is he going to do with it? Am I going to get a visit at my house? Are they going to check if I have Harris signs up and then try to sue me for breach of contract? Will the Jan 6th militia get my phone number to try to recruit me for the next terror attack? If I win the $1 million, are they going to expect political donations?
  
  I think the reality is that you just wouldn't get paid even if you were "selected"
  
  But also? This is an incredibly litigious man who sues anyone and anything. I am not picking that fight.
  
  Let’s be honest- Elon already has your personal data. Cambridge Analytica really spelled out that any anonymity we may think we have is long gone.
  
  No, they can’t sue you for voting for anyone you want. A), they have zero rights as a third party to confirm who you voted for. In fact, the HAVA (Help Americans Vote Act) not only protects you from this, but has actionable penalties should anyone access your voting record outside of state/federal business.
  
  Burner email and phone number
- There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing that and Elon himself said it was fine.
  
  "You can be from any or no political party and you don’t even have to vote in order to sign the petition."
If there is one person who has proven that legal og illegal is just a question of how much it costs to be illegal, then its Elon
What are the odds he even pays out?
- You get paid in a lithium battery fire that just keeps on giving
What’s that idea where if the title to a news article is a question, the answer to the question is always “No.”? 🤔
- Betteridge's law of headlines
It’ll be interesting to see the behavioral science effect of this even if it’s not requiring the signee to take a specific action. They could start putting out data, albeit inaccurate, that people are leaning right and that might cause uneducated voters to make similar decisions.
For those that only want to comment on the headline:

The article basically comes down to because the money is only for people that are already registered to vote, it's illegal.
And because the money is only for people that are already registered to vote, it's legal.
I'm thinking about signing up for it. Its not like I have to keep my word. He will have no way of knowing how I really vote.
There are lots of cafes that give free coffee to people wearing "I voted" stickers on Election Day. Is that illegal? Because it's basically the same thing.
- Somehow a free cup of joe or a free million dollars balances out. Yeah basically the same.
  
  Musk isn't giving everyone a million dollars. He's giving people lottery tickets, and they might be worth a million dollars but are far more likely to be worthless.
  
  You can buy such lottery tickets yourself, and they cost about the same as a cup of coffee.
- One is giving you a gift worth less than $5 for taking part in society, the other is paying you $1M for saying you will vote a specific way. And before you say a gift is a gift, the government has a definition of a gift when it comes to fraud, waste, and abuse. Heck, if we go by your insane equivocation of the two things, those "I voted" stickers are the same as getting free coffee.

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