As the U.S. presidential campaign between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris heats up ahead of Election Day on November 5, the swing states are once again called upon to play king or queen of the election. Elon Musk, a strong supporter of Donald Trump, has understood this to the point of trying to tip the balance in his champion’s favor thanks to a highly contested lottery.
There are seven of them.
They are Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.
In all, seven undecided states or swing states – out of the 50 in the country – in the race for the White House, which could tip the American presidential election on November 5 one way or the other.
In these more or less remote parts of America, the candidates inveigh each other via tweets and interposed communication operations in an attempt to convert each Swing State into an electoral stronghold for their own camp. So, when Joe Biden’s vice-president, Kamala Harris, wrote on a visit to Georgia that Donald Trump was “exhausted, unstable and unfit to be President of the United States”, the impulsive Republican candidate with the blonde quiff attacked the Democratic candidate on her CV, disputing her student job at Mcdonald’s and staging himself, apron and cap on, serving fries and hamburgers to incredulous customers in Feasterville, Pennsylvania.
It has to be said that the American electoral ballot is atypical for a Westerner. All you need to win the presidential nomination is 270 electoral votes, whereas winning the majority of votes is of little importance. Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, X and Space X (among others) is also trying to sway the results by setting up a lottery, the legality of which is open to question, aimed at residents of the key states in this election.
Winner Takes It All
Who will win the White House, Donald Trump or Kamala Harris?
The United States is about to elect its 47th president, or even its first president since Joe Biden withdrew from the race in July for health reasons, in favor of his vice-president. A late entry into the race, given that Donald Trump made his candidacy official on November 15, 2022.
But in the United States, more than anywhere else, to snatch victory, you need to win enough states for the majority of electors, in this case 270.
The Electoral College, a legacy of the founding fathers of the United States of America, established in the Constitution of 1787, is still in force, whereas it has been totally or partially repealed elsewhere. The last country to abolish it was Argentina in 1994. Under this system, the President of the United States is elected by indirect suffrage.
Broadly speaking, citizens vote for electors. Each state is allocated a number of electors based on its population. This number corresponds to the number of representatives the state can send to Congress. Thus, if California has 39 million inhabitants, it has 55 electors, while Vermont, with its 626,000 inhabitants, has 3.
Another legacy from 1787, the “Winner Takes All” system means that the candidate who wins the most votes in a state wins all the electors in that state. This model became predominant in the 19th century, as it favored a voting system that mobilized voters around specific candidates. Only the states of Maine and Nebraska have not adopted this model. In 2016, this system enabled Donald Trump to win304 electoral votes, despite receiving 3 million fewer votes than his rival Hilary Clinton.
Pennsylvania in the firing line
In the final stretch to the White House, one state stood out more than the others: Pennsylvania. With a population of over 19 million and 19 electoral votes, the Swing States, geographically closest to Washington and New York, is clearly the place where the American election has often come down to the wire. Donald Trump won there without difficulty in 2016, before Joe Biden won by just 81,000 votes in 2020.
So much so that, as the New York Times reminds us, “Kamala Harris and Donald Trump spend more money, time and energy campaigning in Pennsylvania than in any other U.S. state”. So, when Kamala Harris presented her economic program it was in Pittsburgh, when she announced the name of her running mate she was in Philadelphia and when she chose the venue for Barack Obama’s fall meet-up, she opted for Pittsburgh. Donald Trump, for his part, plans to spend close to $350.
The former U.S. president intends to make his presence felt in this northern state in industrial decline, particularly in rural areas. Kamala Harris, for her part, enjoys the support of the state’s major cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
But voters in this fickle region are not so easy to win over.
The campaign is so close that Radio Canada reminds us that three communities could well make or break dreams of victory, against the backdrop of the invasion of Ukraine and, above all, the conflict in Gaza.
The Jewish community (300,000 people) is traumatized by the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and perplexed by the Biden-Harris camp’s timidity in condemning anti-Semitic acts on American campuses. The Muslim community (150,000 people) is threatening to vote for the Green camp if the US continues its arms sales to Israel. Finally, the Ukrainians (100,000 people), while appreciative of the Biden administration’s arms deliveries, view with interest Donald Trump’s promise of peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin.
Elon Musk to Trump’s rescue
Initially reticent towards Donald Trump, Elon Musk has begun to support the Republican candidate since his inauguration in 2016, hailing his pro-business proposals. The Tesla and Space X boss has notably been a member of several of Donald Trump’s advisory boards. But he also left these councils due to disagreements over certain policies, such as the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.
It was following Donald Trump’s assassination attempt last July that the sulphurous businessman decided to publicly show his support for the former president.
To this end, he created America PAC, a political organization in support of the Republican candidate. It is similar to a “political action committee” (PAC), which supports election candidates via advertising campaigns or public events, thanks to donations made by individuals or companies.
But above all, through this structure, Elon Musk organized a lottery rewarding two Pennsylvania voters with a check for a million dollars each.
The businessman has agreed to raffle this sum every day from October 19 to November 5 to registered voters in one of the 7 swing states. The other condition sine qua nonwas to sign a conservative petition in favor of the 1st and 2nd amendments, corresponding respectively to freedom of expression and the right to bear arms.
However, according to several American media quoted by AFP, the Department of Justice rejected his request in an e-mail sent to Elon Musk’s teams. It then reminded them that“ it is illegal to offer a valuable reward to a citizen for voting or registering to vote.”
While the Ministry did not mention any legal action against the South African billionaire, it did point out in its e-mail the penalties incurred for what would amount to vote buying. The Ministry reminds us that “anyone who pays, offers to pay or accepts payment to register to vote or to vote is liable to a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to five years, or both”.
Despite this warning, CNN noted that on October 25, two new checks for similar amounts were issued by America PAC to two families, this time from Michigan and Wisconsin.
It should be noted that Elon Musk has undoubtedly found a gray area: he doesn’t buy votes, but randomly rewards voter registration and petition signatures.
Since July, America PAC has raised nearly $75 million for the Trump camp.
Read also > Kamala Harris, a new incarnation of the American dream?
Featured Photo: Allison Saeng/Unsplash
