Elon Musk $1 million voter lottery suit sent back to state court

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, who supports Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump, gestures as he speaks about voting during an America PAC Town Hall in Folsom, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 17, 2024.

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday returned to state court a lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk and his political action committee over their $1 million daily giveaway to registered voters.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's request to block Musk and his America PAC from awarding any more prizes to voters in Pennsylvania will be heard Monday morning by a judge in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, according to a docket entry.

A hearing on Krasner's request began in that state court Thursday morning. But the hearing soon ended after a judge there said Musk's removal of the case to federal court prevented any action in the state court.

Krasner accuses Musk and the PAC of operating an illegal lottery and of trying to influence voters in the presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Musk and the PAC, who are backing Trump, also are accused in the suit of violating state consumer protection laws.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert in his ruling Friday returning the case to the Court of Common Pleas dismissed arguments by Musk's lawyers that the suit should be handled in Philadelphia federal court because it references the upcoming presidential election.

"But federal question jurisdiction does not turn on a plaintiff's motivations in filing suit; it turns on whether the legal issues arising from the claims originate in federal or state law," wrote Pappert, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

Pappert said the defendants had not identified "any question of federal law" that must be resolved in the DA's favor "in order to prove either state-law claim."