Elon Musk faces a proposed class action lawsuit filed Tuesday by voters who claim his $1 million-a-day election giveaway was fraudulent, with plaintiffs seeking at least $5 million in damages.
Arizona resident Jacqueline McAferty filed the complaint in Austin federal court, alleging Musk and his America PAC organization misled voters by claiming winners would be chosen randomly when they were actually predetermined. The lawsuit comes one day after a Philadelphia judge rejected District Attorney Larry Krasner’s attempt to halt the giveaway as an illegal lottery.
The complaint alleges the program, which offered $1 million prizes to voters in seven battleground states who signed a petition supporting free speech and gun rights, served to drive traffic to Musk’s X social media platform while harvesting valuable personal information. McAferty claims the organizers collected signers’ names, addresses, and phone numbers for potential sale.
“The defendants profited from the giveaway by driving traffic and attention to Musk’s X social media platform, and by collecting personal information,” the lawsuit states.
The legal challenge arrives as the giveaway concludes, with Musk having already announced no further prizes will be awarded following the U.S. presidential election. The world’s richest person, now a Texas resident whose electric car company Tesla is headquartered in Austin, has publicly supported Republican Donald Trump in the presidential race against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Representatives for Musk and McAferty did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit, filed as McAferty v Musk et al in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas (No. 24-01346).
