A unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court on Sunday refused to hear a last-minute attempt by the state’s Democratic attorney general to stop billionaire Elon Musk from handing over $1 million checks to two voters, a ruling that came just minutes before the planned start of the rally.
— A unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court on Sunday refused to hear a last-minute attempt by the state’s Democratic attorney general to stop billionaire Elon Musk from handing over $1 million checks to two voters, a ruling that came just minutes before the planned start of the rally.
Two lower courts had already rejected the legal challenge by Democrat Josh Kaul, who argues that Musk’s offer violates a state law. “Wisconsin law prohibits offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote,” Kaul argued in his filing. “Yet, Elon Musk did just that.”
But the state Supreme Court, which is currently controlled 4-3 by liberal justices, declined to take the case as an original action.
Musk’s attorneys argued in filings with the court that Musk was exercising his free speech rights with the giveaways and any attempt to restrict that would violate both the Wisconsin and U.S. constitutions.
The payments are “intended to generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate,” Musk’s attorneys argued in court filings.
