GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Wisconsin's Attorney General wants a court order to stop Elon Musk's million-dollar payments to two Wisconsin voters at an event this weekend. NBC 26 spoke with two attorneys who explained why the state may be challenging Musk's cash payout.
- Hear from two attorneys on what might happen next after John Kaul asked for a court order to stop the millions from being gifted.
- A Green Bay man was announced as a winner of $1 million for signing Musk's petition against "activist judges."
- It's unclear whether the Green Bay man's payout was supposed to be awarded at a planned rally this weekend hosted by Musk.
- Both attorneys say criminal charges are not off the table.
- The Wisconsin Election Commission said they don't believe the issue falls under its jurisdiction.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story with additional details for the web.)
Wisconsin's Attorney General wants a court order to stop Elon Musk's $1 million payments to two Wisconsin voters at an event this weekend. I'm Pari Apostolakos. and I spoke with attorneys who say the reason the state may be challenging musk's cash pay out is because it could have influenced the voter turnout in the April 1 election, which features a hotly contested state Supreme Court Race.
Watch Pari Apostolakos' full broadcast story below:
It's unclear if the Green Bay man announced as the newest Musk-made millionaire was supposed to receive his reward this weekend. Our multiple attempts to contact the man were unsuccessful. Musk had posted on X, which he owns, that he planned to host an event to present money to people for signing his petition against "activist judges."
When it comes to a state legal challenge, University of Wisconsin-Madison State Democracy Research Initiative attorney Bryna Godar said, because Musk initially said only people who voted early could attend, Attorney General Josh Kaul is now raising his challenge.
"It makes it less of an open question and makes it more clearly something that's offering or giving money in order to induce people to vote," Godar said over Zoom on Friday.
I spoke with another attorney who practices election law, she said the fact all registered voters were eventually invited to attend this weekend's event, regardless of whether they had voted or not, doesn't prevent criminal charges from potentially being filed.
"It was walked back, that's great for democracy," election law attorney Stacie H. Rosenzweig said over Zoom Friday. "We shouldn't be paying people to vote, we shouldn't be dangling $1 million or any dollars in their face to vote."
Rosenzweig said offering anything worth more than $1 to get people to cast a ballot is against the law. But, she said Musk's America Political Action Committee petition offering $100 to registered Wisconsin voters who sign a petition against "activist judges" doesn't fall under that rule.
The Wisconsin Election Commission said it doesn't believe the sweepstakes offer or Musk's potential visit falls under its jurisdiction. The ethics commission can't say if it has received any complaints on the matter because complaints are confidential.
