Yes, Musk offered money to Wisconsin residents for voting

On March 27, 2025, Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, posted to his social media platform X announcing that at an upcoming rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, he would “personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each” to two people who had voted in the state’s Supreme Court election.

While Musk deleted the post (for reasons we discuss later), the outrage was immediate. Numerous social media users accused him of trying to bribe voters with various amounts of money — either $100 or $1 million. Snopes readers searched the site hoping to learn more.

The claim is true — Musk did make a social media post announcing he would give $1 million to two voters in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election — but it also requires context, as Musk quickly deleted the post, changed the terms of the giveaway and faced a lawsuit from Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul. Here’s what to know:

‘The most expensive judicial election ever’

Wisconsin, a swing state that voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but Trump in 2016 and 2024, currently has a 4-3 liberal majority on its Supreme Court, and the election is to replace a retiring liberal justice. As such, the vote will decide whether the conservative or liberal bloc of judges has a majority on the court in the next years.

The election is now the “most expensive judicial election ever,” according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank working to “uphold the values of democracy.”

Although the race is officially nonpartisan, the lack of a “D” and “R” on the ballot isn’t keeping Democrats and Republicans out of the race. Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County judge and a former state attorney general, has Trump’s endorsement, while former President Barack Obama endorsed Dane County Judge Susan Crawford. Political pundits have painted the race as a referendum on the first few months of Trump’s second term as president. 

The petition and the giveaway

On March 20, 2025, America PAC, a political action committee founded by Musk, released a petition on its website titled “Petition in Opposition to Activist Judges.” The petition was largely in line with rhetoric from Republican talking points claiming that judges issuing orders stopping or slowing down Trump’s agenda were improperly taking matters into their own hands.

According to a social media post from America PAC, Wisconsin residents could receive $100 for signing it, and an additional $100 for every person they referred. The petition required signees to provide their name, address, email and phone number.

On March 27, America PAC announced that Scott Ainsworth of Green Bay, Wisconsin, had received $1 million for signing the petition.

Later that day, Musk upped the ante. In a since-deleted post on X, he announced he would “give a talk in Wisconsin” open only to “those who have voted in the Supreme Court election.” This post said that two people would receive $1 million checks “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.” 

(While the archived version of the post linked in this article indicates that Musk made the post on March 28, this is due to time zone differences — the screenshot of the post featured in a lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin attorney general listed the posting time as 11:57 p.m. on March 27).

That offer was illegal under Wisconsin state law

According to The Associated Press, which spoke to several legal experts, Musk’s initial offer was illegal because Wisconsin state law forbids giving “anything of value” to a potential voter in order to influence them to vote, not vote or vote a certain way.

However, Musk quickly deleted his post and altered the terms of his giveaway, posting to X that “entrance [to his speech] is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges,” and that the two $1 million checks were for people who would “be spokesmen for the petition.”

The same day, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul sued Musk for violating the state law. The lawsuit read:

Wisconsin law forbids anyone from offering or promising to give anything of value to an elector in order to induce the elector to go to the polls, vote or refrain from voting, or vote for a particular person. Wis. Stat. § 12.11(1m). Musk’s announcement of his intention to pay $1 million to two Wisconsin electors who attend his event on Sunday night, specifically conditioned on their having voted in the upcoming April 3, 2025, Wisconsin Supreme Court election, is a blatant attempt to violate Wis. Stat. § 12.11. This must not happen.

The lawsuit relied on the following argument: The state law includes the word “offers,” in addition to “gives” or “promises to give,” as falling under bribery. While Musk deleted the X post, he never officially announced the offer was off the table, meaning he was still in violation of the statute.

Court OK’d giveaway after Musk changed the terms

A Wisconsin appeals court rejected the lawsuit, allowing Musk’s giveaway to proceed under the revised rules. On March 30, Musk handed out the two $1 million checks at his speech in Green Bay. 

However, according to some experts the AP spoke to, the revised rules were still somewhat questionable. 

Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor and White House ethics chief under former President George W. Bush, said the revision “at least purports to comply with Wisconsin law.” Bryna Godar, staff attorney for the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said the new terms placed the rally and giveaway in a “gray area.”

Musk has done this before

In the weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election, Musk announced $47, and then $100, giveaways to people who signed a separate America PAC petition. He later announced a few $1 million check giveaways for voters in swing states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona. In that case, the America PAC petition was open only to those who had registered to vote. 

UCLA law professor Rick Hasen, who runs the Election Law Blog, wrote that the giveaway was “clearly illegal.” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk on the grounds that his giveaway was an “illegal lottery scheme,” and the U.S. Justice Department warned Musk that it could violate federal laws, according to CNN.

Just like in Wisconsin, America PAC quickly reframed the giveaways, saying that the winners would “earn $1 million as a spokesperson for America PAC.” 

However, a lawyer for Musk said in the Pennsylvania case that the $1 million presidential election giveaways weren’t random, and that the checks were given to “people who signed the petition who [America PAC] thought would be a good fit to represent the organization.” (It is unclear whether the Wisconsin giveaway was random). A Pennsylvania judge ruled in favor of Musk and America PAC in that case because the prosecution had not shown that his giveaway was an illegal lottery.

NBC News, citing several experts, reported that there could be more legal problems. Since the admission that winners were not chosen randomly contradicted earlier statements from Musk saying that the winners were random, Musk and America PAC could be violating a law that bans misleading and deceiving marketing practices. (In the Wisconsin case, Musk’s posts did not state whether the winners would be chosen randomly.)

Sources