“I think (Elon) Musk’s proposal is likely illegal,” said Paul Schiff Berman, the Walter S. Cox Professor of Law at George Washington University.
He pointed to U.S. election law, which states that anyone who “pays, offers to pay, or receives payment to register to vote or vote” could potentially face a $10,000 fine or five years in prison.
“I think his proposal violates this provision because it is only open to registered voters,” Berman told the BBC.
The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment. We have requested comment from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The former chairman of the FEC said the strategy could be riddled with loopholes because no one is paid directly for registering or voting.
Brad Smith said in an interview with the New York Times that the prize is a “grey area” but “not that close.”
“He doesn’t pay to register to vote. He is paying people to sign his petitions and he only wants people who are registered to vote to sign his petitions. So I think he’s fine here,” he said.
But a professor of electoral law at Northwestern University told the BBC that context is important.
Representative Michael Kang said, “I understand some analysis that it is not illegal, but considering the context, I think it is clearly an intention to get people to register to vote in a legally problematic way.”
Adav Noti of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center said Musk’s plan “violates federal law and is subject to civil or criminal enforcement by the Justice Department.”
“It is illegal to give money on the condition that the recipient registers to vote,” Mr Noti told the BBC.
Jeremy Paul, a constitutional law professor at Northeastern University Law School, said in an email to the BBC that Musk was exploiting a legal loophole.
He said there were claims the proposal may be illegal, but that it was “designed to circumvent the law” and that the case would be difficult to handle in court.
