Elon Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, are now at the center of a growing legal battle. A class action lawsuit filed this month accuses the organization of failing to pay individuals who signed a petition during the 2024 election cycle, despite promises of financial compensation.
The petition drew national attention last year when it offered money to eligible voters in key battleground states. According to the campaign’s promotional materials, Pennsylvania voters who signed the petition were promised $100, while voters in other swing states were offered $47.
What petition did voters sign?
Participants were also incentivized to refer others to sign the petition, with the chance to earn additional money for each successful referral. In the weeks leading up to the election, Musk announced a daily $1 million giveaway to a random petitioner as part of an effort to ramp up support.
To qualify, signers had to indicate their support for the First and Second Amendments, and had to be a registered voter in a swing state. The petition was a strategy to increase voter registration during the 2024 election cycle, according to Elon Musk.
The petition read: “The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to
bear arms. By signing below, I am pledging my support for the First and Second Amendments. Our goal is to get 1 million registered voters in swing states to sign in support of the Constitution, especially freedom of speech and the right to bear arms.”
Lawsuit alleges petitioners left unpaid
Now, several months after the election, a class action lawsuit claims that many participants never received the money they were promised.
The legal action is being led by the firm Lichten & Liss-Riordan, which is representing three initial plaintiffs. According to the firm, more than 100 additional people are expected to join the suit.
The estimated total of unpaid funds exceeds $5 million, according to the firm’s calculations of money paid per signature and through the referral incentive program.
“This case is about a broken promise: Elon Musk promised supporters that they would be paid for signing a petition and referring others to do the same,” Shannon Liss-Riordan, co-founder of Liss-Riordan Law Firm, said. “Our clients relied on that promise because they believed in Elon, but unfortunately, that promise was not kept. It appears the promise was broken for many others as well.”
According to some screenshots on X, some voters posted their received checks in the mail, indicating at least some petitioners were paid for their participation.
America PAC denied wrongdoing in earlier, similar suit
As of this report, neither Elon Musk nor America PAC has issued a comment regarding the new lawsuit.
However, the super PAC did respond to a separate legal case filed last month by the same law firm. That earlier lawsuit involved only Pennsylvania residents who signed the petition and said they were not paid.
In that instance, a spokesperson for the super PAC denied any wrongdoing and reaffirmed its commitment to compensating legitimate participants, saying the super PAC has the right to “root out fraud” from the petition.
“America PAC is committed to paying for every legitimate petition signature, which is evidenced by the fact that we have paid tens of millions of dollars to canvassers for their hard work in support of our mission,” Andrew Romeo, America PAC spokesperson, said.
The latest lawsuit expands the legal scope significantly, now covering petitioners from all swing states who claim they never received payment for their participation.
