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Hearing comes one day before U.S. election

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Suit says giveaway violates state consumer protection laws

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America PAC has given away $16 million to registered

voters

(Adds quote from lawyer for Philadelphia district attorney in

paragraphs 1, 5, 6, 11, PHILADELPHIA dateline)

By Jack Queen

PHILADELPHIA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's $1

million-a-day giveaway to registered voters ahead of the U.S.

presidential election is an "illegal lottery," a lawyer for the

Philadelphia district attorney said at a hearing on Monday as a

judge weighed whether to stop the contest.

The hearing in the battleground state comes just one day

before Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican

former President Donald Trump will square off in the tightly

contested race. Musk and his political action committee are

backing Trump.

Since Oct. 19, Tesla CEO Musk has been giving a $1

million check every day to a randomly selected voter who has

signed his petition supporting free speech and gun rights.

Musk became an outspoken Trump supporter this year and has

promoted the former president on his X social media platform.

Democratic Philadelphia District Attorney Lawrence Krasner

sued Musk and his political action committee in state court on

Oct. 28 to try to block the giveaway. Krasner, a champion of

progressive causes, called the program an illegal lottery that

violates state consumer protection laws.

A lawyer for Krasner's office, John Summers, told Judge

Angelo Foglietta on Monday that Musk's giveaway was clearly

illegal and not approved by the state, which has the sole

authority to run lotteries.

"The law is pretty clear what a lottery is, and this

doesn't look like any kind of lawful lottery in Pennsylvania,"

Summers said.

Earlier, Musk lawyer Chris Gober told reporters outside the

courtroom that Krasner was seeking to silence Musk for his

support of Trump.

"We don't allow our rights to be trampled upon by partisan

agendas masquerading as legal arguments," Musk lawyer Chris

Gober told reporters outside the courtroom where the hearing was

taking place. "Truth will not be bullied and neither will my

client."

Musk's offer is limited to registered voters in the seven

states expected to decide the election - Arizona, Georgia,

Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

So far, Musk's America PAC has awarded $1 million prizes to

16 people and said the final prize will be given on Nov. 5.

Krasner also alleged that people who receive Musk's money

are "not actually chosen at random," citing two winners who

attended two pro-Trump rallies. In court, Summers said Musk did

not disclose basic information such as how winners were selected

and what the odds of winning are.

Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania, one of

seven battleground states likely to determine the outcome of the

race between Trump and Harris. Whichever candidate wins the

state will receive its 19 electoral votes out of a total of 270

needed to win.

Musk and his America PAC sought to move the case to federal

court, arguing Krasner's lawsuit raised questions about

free-speech rights and election interference that belong in

federal court.

But on Friday, U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert in

Philadelphia federal court said the case belonged in state court

and later that day Foglietta scheduled a hearing in the case.

The giveaway falls in a gray area of election law, and legal

experts are divided on whether Musk could be violating

federal laws against paying people to register to vote.

The U.S. Department of Justice has warned America PAC the

giveaway could violate federal law, according to media reports,

but federal prosecutors have not taken any public action.

Musk has so far given nearly $120 million to America PAC,

according to federal disclosures.

The Trump campaign is broadly reliant on outside groups for

canvassing voters, meaning the super PAC founded by Musk, the

world's richest man, plays an outsized role in what is expected

to be a razor-thin election.