Elon Musk is accused of bribing voters to vote for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel in a new Dane County Circuit Court lawsuit on behalf of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
The lawsuit is regarding Musk paying voters $100 to sign a petition against activist judges and then paying three Wisconsin voters $1 million apiece.
Schimel lost the race to Susan Crawford.
“We are fighting for free and fair elections,” said attorney Jeff Mandell of Law Forward, which filed the lawsuit along with Democracy Defenders Fund and Hecker Fink LLP. “We believe our democracy demands better than schemes like the one detailed in our complaint. So, we are working to hold Musk accountable and stop this from becoming the new normal.”
Musk was quoted in the lawsuit as saying the awards were “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.”
Musk wrote at the time on X.com that he was limiting attendance at a Wisconsin rally before the Supreme Court election to those who signed the petition and the million-dollar payments were for individuals “to be spokesmen for the petition.”
This was after Musk wrote “A Supreme Court election in Wisconsin might determine the fate of America.”
The lawsuit contests that Musk violated a Wisconsin law prohibiting payment of any amount over $1 get someone to go to the polls, vote, and/or vote for a particular person.
“Our democracy can’t be sold to the highest bidder,” Mandell said in a statement. “Our complaint alleges that Elon Musk and his affiliated groups orchestrated a brazen scheme to bribe voters with the prospect of million-dollar awards in an effort to tilt the outcome of the race to their liking. This lawsuit is a critical step in protecting free and fair elections and ensuring laws that prohibit this behavior are enforced.”
