A federal judge in Austin, Texas ruled that Elon Musk must face a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging he ran an illegal $1 million-a-day lottery during the 2024 U.S. election campaign. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said plaintiff Jacqueline McAferty plausibly claimed Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, defrauded voters in seven battleground states by inducing them to sign a petition supporting the U.S. Constitution in exchange for a purported chance to win daily cash prizes. McAferty contends participants were required to submit personal information—names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers—with no genuine opportunity to be selected at random, violating state and federal lottery laws. The suit, filed on Election Day last year, seeks damages on behalf of voters who provided data that could be valuable to political data brokers. Musk argued the promotion was not a lottery because recipients were "selected to earn" the money and were expected to act as spokespeople for the PAC. Judge Pitman found other statements describing winners as being "awarded" the money made it plausible that voters reasonably believed they were entering a random drawing. Lawyers for Musk and America PAC have not commented on the decision, which allows the case—McAferty v. Musk et al., No. 24-01346—to proceed in the Western District of Texas.