A federal judge has ordered Elon Musk to face a proposed class-action lawsuit from voters who say they were misled into signing a petition in the buildup to the 2024 election by promises of a chance to win $1 million in a daily giveaway.
The lawsuit, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, invokes the Class Action Fairness Act and alleges that the total value of all class members’ claims exceeds $5 million. It seeks damages and injunctive relief on behalf of petition signers who say they were wrongly induced to provide personal identifying information when signing the petition.
Newsweek contacted lawyers for Musk and America PAC for comment via email on Thursday outside regular office hours.
Why It Matters
The case centers on whether Musk’s America PAC promotion—announced in the run-up to the election to support Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign in seven battleground states—was a genuine, random lottery or whether signers suffered harm when they supplied contact details later used for political targeting.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has faced several legal challenges over America PAC and the $1 million petition giveaway. In October, the Department of Justice warned Musk that the promotion might violate federal election laws. If the lawsuit succeeds, Musk could face millions in damages, and the case could spur similar suits in other states where voters signed the petition.
Alex Brandon/AP
What To Know
The complaint names Arizona resident Jacqueline McAferty as lead plaintiff and alleges that America PAC and Musk induced voters in seven battleground states—Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina—to sign a petition supporting free speech and Second Amendment positions by promising $1 million daily prizes chosen “randomly” until Election Day.
The suit said petition signers were required to provide names, addresses, emails and phone numbers and that the defendants benefited by driving traffic to X, Musk’s social platform, and by collecting valuable political contact data. It also alleges that the lottery was not random, giving voters no real chance to collect.
In November, Musk’s lawyers told a Pennsylvania judge that winners were not chosen at random but were selected in advance—contradicting Musk’s own statements when he launched the contest.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled that McAferty plausibly alleged that she had been misled and that an expert could testify about the commercial value of battleground voters’ contact information.
What People Are Saying
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman told Reuters on Wednesday: “It is plausible that plaintiff justifiably relied on those statements to believe that defendants were objectively offering her the chance to enter a random lottery—even if that is not what they subjectively intended to do.”
Jarrett L. Ellzey of EKSM LLP told Newsweek: “We are pleased with the Court’s ruling and agree with Judge Pitman’s careful reasoning. This decision affirms that our client and the proposed class have viable claims and deserve the opportunity to pursue justice.”
Elon Musk said at a Trump campaign event in Pennsylvania on October 19: “We are going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election.”
Christopher Peterson, a University of Utah law professor, told NBC News on November 5, 2024: “You cannot lawfully lie to the public about conducting a random sweepstakes, lottery, or contest and then rig the results to hand-select the winners. It really is not complicated. This is just fraud; a simple, ugly fraud on the public.”
What Happens Next
The case, McAferty v. Musk et al., remains before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Pitman has denied dismissal, allowing discovery and further proceedings to go forward.
