New Delhi: Registered voters who signed Elon Musk’s petition backing the Constitution for a chance to win his $1 million-a-day giveaway on Tuesday filed a proposed class-action lawsuit, alleging that it was fraudulent, according to a Reuters report.
The complaint has been lodged by Arizona resident Jacqueline McAferty in the Austin, Texas federal court. McAferty said Musk and his America PAC organisation allegedly misled voters to sign the petition while making claims that winners would be chosen randomly, although the results were predetermined.
She added that the defendants gained from the giveaway by garnering traffic and attention to Elon Musk’s X social media platform, and by gathering personal information such as her name, address and phone number which they could sell, the report said. McAferty pointed out that she would never have signed the America PAC petition and handed over personal information if she had known that the winners weren’t selected at random and she had no chance of winning $1 million.
The lawsuit by McAferty was filed a day after a Philadelphia judge turned down a request from District Attorney Larry Krasner to end the giveaway, which Krasner dubbed as an illegal lottery.
That verdict was mostly symbolic, as Elon Musk has no plans or intention to distribute more money after the US presidential election.
Lawsuit seeks $5 million in damages
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, rolled out the giveaway for registered voters in seven battleground states who signed a petition backing free speech and gun rights. The Tuesday lawsuit seeks a minimum of $5 million in damages for all those who signed the petition. He has been backing
Musk resides in Texas while his electric car company Tesla is based in Austin. Republican and former US president Donald Trump in the presidential elections against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
