Pennsylvania has seen a rise of Republican voter registrations since tech billionaire Elon Musk offered a financial incentive for people to get swing state voters to sign his pro-Donald Trump Super PAC's petition.
In the final week before October 21, the final day for Pennsylvania residents to register to vote in November's presidential election, 27,673 Republicans signed up to register to vote in Pennsylvania, compared to 12,772 Democrats, reported CNHI News.
Musk noted the difference between new Republican and Democratic voters in Pennsylvania in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Monday, slightly exaggerating the scope of the gap.
"New Republican voter registration last week in Pennsylvania absolutely crushed Democrat voter registration! 27.7k Rep vs 12.7k Dem, a 3X difference," Musk wrote. "Let's GOOOO!!!!!"
In comparison, the week ending October 7 saw 15,890 new Republicans and 8,060 Democrats sign up to vote in the key swing state that could determine who wins the neck-and-neck race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. In the week ending September 23, there were 12,615 Republican registrations and 7,940 Democrats who registered to vote, per tracking from analyst Michael Pruser.
The recent rise in new Republican and Democratic voters in Pennsylvania could be tied to more people signing up to cast their ballot in the election as the deadline loomed.
More than 9 million people in Pennsylvania are registered to vote in the November 5 election, including more than 3.9 million Democrats and 3.6 million Republicans, reported CBS 21. While Democrats still have the edge in total registered voters statewide than Republicans, the margin is reportedly the slimmest Democrats have had in the state in decades and less than half of their advantage in 2016, when Trump won Pennsylvania by just over 44,000 voters.
Musk began offering people $47 from October 7 if they successfully get one registered swing-state voter to sign an online petition—offering supporting the First and Second amendments of the Constitution—by his America PAC, which Musk set up to support Trump's White House bid.
Musk also offered $100 to each registered Pennsylvania voter who signs the petition, and an additional $100 for referring a registered Pennsylvania voter to back it.
The stated goal of the petition was to register 1 million voters across swing states, only allowing registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina to sign and claim $100 before the offer expires on October 21 (the deadline for voter registration).
Musk, the owner of X and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, also vowed that swing-state registered voters who signed the petition would have a chance to win $1 million every day until November 5. Those who sign the petition are to be entered into a random daily raffle.
Musk, who has donated at least $75 million to America PAC, has campaigned for Trump in Pennsylvania, appearing on stage at a rally with the former president earlier this month in Butler.
Legal experts have suggested Musk may be violating federal law which makes it illegal to pay or offer to pay for someone to register to vote or cast a ballot.
Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA, called the payments "clearly illegal" in a blog post.
Michael Kang, a professor at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, told The Associated Press: "It's not quite the same as paying someone to vote, but you're getting close enough that we worry about its legality."
Newsweek has contacted Musk's America PAC for comment via email.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, told NBC'S Meet the Presson Sunday Musk's $1 million giveaways are "deeply concerning" and "something that law enforcement could take a look at."
Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks downplayed suggestions that Musk's plans might be an illegal attempt to convince people to vote Republican.
"It's distasteful, but I'm not sure it's criminal," she posted on X.
"Is paying someone to sign a meaningless petition the same as paying them to register or to vote even if they might have been motivated to register in order to get paid to sign the petition?"
Two people have won the prize from Musk's super PAC after signing the petition. Both are registered Republicans who have already cast their vote in the 2024 election, reported Politico.
Harris and Trump are essentially tied in Pennsylvania with two weeks of the election to go.
Trump currently has a 0.3-point average lead over Harris in the Keystone State (47.9 percent to 47.6), according to polling aggregator and forecasting website 538.
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