Musk asks to move $1 million giveaway lawsuit to federal court. In either court, the election effort has largely served its purpose

• A lawsuit by the Philadelphia DA could halt Musk’s $1M-a-day voter giveaway Thursday.
• By then, the purpose of the giveaway will have been served.
• Musk has used the giveaway to encourage voter registration and push swing-staters to the polls.

The Philadelphia district attorney was set to take Elon Musk’s America PAC to court on Thursday morning in an effort to shut down a $1 million daily giveaway that the DA called an “illegal lottery” in a lawsuit filed Monday.

“If not enjoined, their lottery scheme and unfair and deceptive conduct will irreparably harm Philadelphians (and others in Pennsylvania) as well as tarnish the public’s right to a free and fair election,” Monday’s lawsuit, filed by DA Larry Krasner, said.

Lawyers for Krasner were originally granted a Friday court date for their request to immediately halt the giveaway, but that hearing was moved to Thursday under a different judge.

Hours after the case was reassigned, Musk’s team requested late Wednesday night that the lawsuit be moved instead to federal court — a move that has the potential to put a temporary hold on the case, delaying any relief.

Musk’s lawyers said in the request that Krasner’s complaint has little to do with “state-law claims of nuisance and consumer protection” but rather claims of Musk’s “interference” with the election.

A claim like that, Musk’s lawyers say, belongs in federal court.

The district attorney’s lawyers have asked that Musk and his PAC be “restrained and enjoined from promoting, maintaining or operating their lottery,” according to the court schedule and a draft injunction filed with a lawsuit.

Krasner hopes to stop Musk from offering a daily chance to win $1 million for signing a petition supporting the Constitution and the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The giveaway, which began October 19, has two catches. Participants must be residents of one of the seven swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, or North Carolina. Participants must also be registered voters to apply.

By Thursday, much of what the DA and Democratic critics allege is the purpose of the giveaway — to provide a financial incentive for swing-staters to register to vote for Donald Trump — has been served. Voter registration closed in Pennsylvania a week ago.

Nevada and North Carolina are the only swing states offering voter registration next week.

But the lawsuit was widely reported when it broke on Monday morning, and was followed by a flurry of postings about the giveaway and Pennsylvania on the America PAC site on X. Musk founded the PAC and owns the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Pennsylvania, today and tomorrow are the last two days of on-demand voting,” the PAC posted. Also Monday, the PAC announced its 10th million-dollar winner.

Attorneys for Musk and a spokesperson for America PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday by Business Insider.

On Monday, a spokesperson for America PAC declined to comment on the lawsuit, instead directing BI to a new post from the PAC’s X account showing a photo of “Jordan from Hastings, Michigan” holding a mockup of a $1 million check.

The Hastings man was named a winner hours after the lawsuit was filed.

The DA’s demand for an injunction halting the giveaway was scheduled be heard at 10 a.m. Thursday before Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Angelo J. Foglietta, who took the bench in 2012 after running on a Democratic slate.

The case was reassigned to Foglietta from the original judge, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Anne Marie B. Coyle, who took the bench in 2013 after running on a Republican slate. Court records do not give a specific reason for the reassignment.

Krasner’s lawsuit says the giveaway is an unregulated lottery that violates Pennsylvania law.

Musk and his PAC “have shrouded key aspects of the lottery in secrecy,” including by failing to detail contest rules, the odds of winning, and how winners are selected,” the lawsuit said.

Musk has called the selection of winners “random” and has said in a video the purpose of the giveaway was to alert people to the election.

“Defendants have already unlawfully acquired data from over 280,000 unsuspecting Pennsylvanians and will suffer no injury by being enjoined from further wrongdoing,” the lawsuit against him said.

Krasner’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment Thursday.

The giveaway has been criticized by Democrats as a cash-for-registration drive designed to help boost Trump’s numbers. Federal law bars paying someone to vote or register to vote.

Legal experts previously told Business Insider the America PAC’s contest likely violated the spirit of the law and may have outright crossed the line.

Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School, said it would be surprising to see the Justice Department take action given the little time left before Election Day. The DOJ sent a letter to America PAC warning that the giveaway might be illegal.

Musk has become one of the most vocal pro-Republican megadonors in the presidential race. He just finished a series of town halls in Pennsylvania, the biggest swing state in the race.

October 31: This story was updated to reflect that Musk has requested to move the case to federal court.