Tech billionaire and political influencer Elon Musk will face a lawsuit accusing him of deceiving voters with a fake $1 million lottery during the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign.
The U.S. District Judge Robert Pitma, on Tuesday August 19, in Austin ruled that the claims were strong enough to move forward.
The case was filed by Jacqueline McAferty, an Arizona voter, who says Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, lured people into providing personal data under false pretenses.
According to Reuters, McAferty alleged that Musk and his PAC promised voters in seven battleground states a chance to win $1 million if they signed his petition.
The so-called lottery required participants to submit their names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.
McAferty said that while Musk advertised the $1 million payments as randomly awarded prizes, voters never had a real chance of winning.
Instead, the scheme allegedly acted as a massive data-harvesting operation to collect voter information in key states.
The lawsuit was first filed on Election Day, November 5, 2024, after the controversial giveaway drew widespread attention.
Musk, who founded America PAC to support Donald Trump’s successful 2024 presidential run, denied the accusations.
His lawyers argued that the giveaway was not a lottery because winners were described as being “selected to earn” the money rather than to win it.
They claimed that chosen participants were expected to become America PAC spokespeople, which, in their view, made the payout compensation rather than a prize.
But Judge Pitman was not convinced. He noted that Musk and his PAC also used language suggesting winners were being “awarded” money and could “win” the $1 million.
“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,” Pitman wrote.
Another key dispute in the case is whether voters suffered any harm by handing over their personal information.
Musk’s lawyers argued that providing contact details caused no measurable damage.
However, Judge Pitman disagreed. He ruled that an expert in political data brokerage could testify about the market value of such voter data in battleground states.
In U.S. politics, voter lists are often worth millions of dollars to campaigns, making the alleged deception potentially serious.
Interestingly, a day before the lawsuit was filed, a judge in Philadelphia refused to stop Musk’s $1 million giveaway.
The city’s district attorney had argued it was an illegal lottery, but the court said the claim was unproven at the time.
The Texas case, however, has now cleared its first major hurdle and will proceed to trial unless settled.
Neither Musk nor America PAC has issued an official response since Judge Pitman’s ruling. Requests for comment were not immediately answered.
Musk, a Texas resident, has strong ties to the state. His electric car company, Tesla, is headquartered in Austin, where the lawsuit is being heard.
If successful, the case could open the door to a class action lawsuit involving thousands of voters across multiple states who signed Musk’s petition.
The case is titled: McAferty v. Musk et al, U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, No. 24-01346.
The lawsuit highlights the growing intersection between tech, politics, and voter data exploitation. It also raises ethical questions about how billionaires like Musk use their platforms to influence elections.
For voters, the case may determine whether political giveaways that harvest data without delivering on promises can be challenged in court.
As the trial moves forward, it could have major implications for campaign financing, digital privacy, and election integrity in the U.S.
