Did Elon Musk authorize payments to Wisconsin voters for voting in recent elections?

1. What happened: staged giveaways at a rally

Elon Musk announced and his political groups ran several incentive programs aimed at Wisconsin voters: a $100 offer tied to signing a petition opposing “activist judges,” a broader lottery-style giveaway the PAC ran during the 2024 campaign, and Musk’s public presentation of two $1 million checks to voters at a Green Bay rally on March 30, 2025 — an event that went ahead after the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined an emergency request to stop it ^{[1] [6] [3] [2]}.

2. Legal fight and the state’s response

Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general sued to block Musk’s planned handouts, arguing state law “prohibits offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote,” and asked courts to stop the event; two lower courts rejected the challenge and the state Supreme Court declined to intervene on short notice, allowing the handouts to proceed ^{[5] [4] [7]}.

3. Musk’s defence: speech and grassroots organising

Musk’s attorneys and his political action committees characterized the payments not as direct vote-buying but as political speech intended to build a grassroots movement against judicial “activism.” In filings they argued refusing the payments would curtail First Amendment rights and that the payments were meant to generate opposition to activist judges rather than explicitly urge votes for a particular candidate ^{[5] [7]}.

4. Who received the money — political context matters

Reporting identifies at least one early $1 million recipient as a Green Bay man with prior donations to the Wisconsin GOP and the conservative candidate in the court race; at the rally Musk declared two recipients spokespeople for his political group ^{[8] [3] [9]}. That political alignment sharpened claims from Democrats that the payments were intended to influence the race and not neutral civic engagement ^[6].

5. Precedents and parallel litigation

Musk’s PAC used a similar tactic in 2024 — a lottery-like offer of $1 million a day in several battleground states — which triggered legal challenges elsewhere (Philadelphia’s district attorney sued in Pennsylvania), with some courts allowing the programs to continue and others scrutinizing them under state law ^{[1] [6]}. Legal scholars noted the Wisconsin episode echoed unresolved questions from those earlier efforts ^[4].

6. Political implications and partisan reactions

Democratic officials called Musk’s actions corrupt or possibly criminal under state bribery statutes; Republican-aligned groups and Musk allies described the move as political speech and effective turnout strategy. Observers linked Musk’s spending and involvement to a broader nationalization of the state race and to his support for conservative candidates, magnifying the stakes in a contest seen as a test of influence in a pivotal battleground ^{[10] [11] [6]}.

7. What the sources confirm and what they do not

Available reporting confirms Musk personally handed out $1 million checks to two voters and that his PAC offered $100 petition payments, and that Wisconsin’s attorney general sued to block the handouts ^{[3] [1] [5]}. Available sources do not mention any final criminal charges or convictions arising from these specific giveaways; they also do not provide a definitive legal ruling that the payments were or were not illegal beyond the temporary procedural rulings that allowed the event to proceed ^{[4] [5]}.

8. Bottom line for readers

The factual record in major outlets shows Musk authorised and executed monetary offers to Wisconsin voters through his PAC and personally handed out large checks after courts declined emergency relief ^{[2] [3] [1]}. Whether those actions violate Wisconsin election law remains contested in public filings and partisan statements; Musk frames them as constitutionally protected political speech, while state Democrats and legal authorities argue they amount to prohibited inducements to vote ^{[5] [4]}.