The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted to refer two complaints against Elon Musk to the Brown County District Attorney, pointing to his $1 million promise to voters in the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election as a possible breach of election bribery laws. The decision followed a closed-door meeting where commissioners expressed concerns that Musk’s large-scale voter incentive may have crossed legal boundaries.
Under Wisconsin law, it is illegal to offer anything of value exceeding $1 to influence someone’s vote or decision not to vote. Musk’s post on social media offering $1 million to voters, coupled with documented instances of him handing out $1 million checks to supporters days before the election, triggered the investigation. The commission’s referral means the district attorney now has 40 days to decide whether to pursue criminal charges.
The complaints originated from two Wisconsin residents—one from Milwaukee and another from Green Bay—who challenged Musk’s voter incentive tactics. Besides the $1 million offer, Musk and supporting groups invested at least $20 million backing the Republican candidate Brad Schimel, who was ultimately defeated by liberal Justice Susan Crawford by a margin of ten percentage points.
Prior to these large payments, Musk experimented with smaller rewards, including $20 payments to volunteers who canvassed for Schimel after uploading proof of participation. This approach had already drawn legal scrutiny, as a Wisconsin watchdog group filed a lawsuit in mid-2025 seeking to block Musk from offering cash incentives to voters in the state again.
Brown County District Attorney David Lasee, who has yet to comment publicly on the referral, must now weigh the commission’s findings and determine if the evidence supports charges under the state’s election bribery statute. The law criminalizes any attempt to influence election outcomes through monetary inducements.