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In early 2025, California lawmakers faced a novel challenge: wealthy actors exploiting legal gray areas to “gamify” voter registration. To address this threat, Senator Tom Umberg introduced Senate Bill 398, which prohibits paying or offering valuable incentives—such as cash or prize drawings—in exchange for registering to vote or casting a ballot. Recognizing both the urgency and the need for precise language, the California Civil Liberties Advocacy (CCLA) joined as a co-sponsor.
The Elon Musk “Lottery” That Sparked a Legislative Response
It all began in October 2024, when America PAC—a political action committee launched by Elon Musk—announced a promotional campaign that stunned election‐watchers. The PAC would give away $1 million per day to individuals who signed a petition “supporting free speech and Second Amendment rights” in swing states, provided they were already registered voters in those jurisdictions. On its face, Musk’s promotion looked like a generous (if eyebrow‐raising) sweepstakes. But beneath the veneer of a “random” drawing lay a classic quid-pro-quo structure: participants needed to be registered in a particular state, and winners were ultimately selected based on their public alignment with America PAC’s values—effectively turning them into paid spokespeople for Musk’s preferred political narrative.
Legal experts quickly pointed out that America PAC’s scheme exploited a gray area in federal voting law: while 52 U.S.C. § 10307 explicitly bans paying someone “for registering to vote” or “for voting,” it doesn’t explicitly mention lottery‐style giveaways as a banned method. The result was a wave of lawsuits and investigations in Pennsylvania and other states, all questioning whether this type of arrangement amounted to vote buying—albeit under the guise of a populist‐style lottery.
California’s Election Code, however, lacked a similar federal‐style prohibition against “incentive‐based” registration tactics. In other words, someone in California could potentially replicate Musk’s approach—using a big cash prize or other high‐value reward to trigger a wave of registrations—without immediately falling afoul of state law. The potential for wealthy individuals or PACs to skew the registration process was crystal‐clear, and that put lawmakers on high alert.
Enter SB 398: A Focused Response
Senator Umberg’s original version of SB 398 (introduced on February 14, 2025) simply made it a crime to pay or offer valuable consideration in exchange for someone registering to vote. If someone knowingly offered a raffle ticket, a gift card, or cash to get you to sign up—boom—they’d face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. That broad language raised eyebrows—and eyebrows quickly morphed into concerns. Community groups worried that “valuable consideration” could be interpreted so expansively as to encompass a free sandwich or pack of gum handed out at a campus voter‐registration table. Even nonprofits that offered modest giveaways felt uneasy: is a bowl of granola bars now a felony inducement?
Recognizing those concerns, Umberg’s team introduced a key amendment on April 21, 2025, tightening and clarifying SB 398’s reach. The new language specifically requires that, to be a crime, the payment or reward must be made “with the intent to induce the person to vote or to register to vote” or must be “contingent upon whether the person voted or on the person’s voter registration status.” In plain English, that means:
- Intent matters. It’s no longer enough simply to hand out something fun at a registration drive. The law targets cases where you’re deliberately trying to buy someone’s civic participation.
- Contingency matters. If the reward hinges on the person taking a voting or registration step (“You’ll get a $50 gift card only if you fill out this form”), you’re crossing the line.
Equally important, the penalties were adjusted to mirror California’s broader sentencing framework—transitioning from a flat “five‐year prison or $10k fine” to a tiered approach under Penal Code § 1170(h) (16 months, two years, or three years in prison, or up to one year in county jail, plus possible fines). This more nuanced structure alleviates fears of draconian punishment for small‐scale, well‐meaning efforts, while still preserving a strong deterrent against high-dollar or mass-incentive schemes.
A Mid-March Meeting and Shared Concerns
In mid-March 2025, CCLA representatives met with Senator Umberg’s staff to discuss SB 398’s draft. During that conversation, CCLA highlighted concerns raised by organizations such as the ACLU and other civil-liberties groups—namely, that overly broad language could unintentionally criminalize legitimate, nonpartisan registration efforts (for example, community groups giving out water bottles or T-shirts at a voter drive). However, after reviewing the bill’s intent and its evolution, CCLA agreed that the stricter language ultimately struck the right balance. By focusing on “knowing and willful” inducements or offers “contingent upon registration or voting,” SB 398 zeroes in on bad-faith schemes while preserving space for bona fide outreach.
CCLA’s Co-Sponsorship and the March 27 Letter
Following the mid-March discussions and revisions, CCLA formally submitted its co-sponsorship letter on March 27, 2025. In that letter, CCLA emphasized that, while community groups must remain free to conduct nonpartisan voter drives, high-dollar or contingent incentives corrode the voluntary nature of civic participation. The letter urged colleagues on the Senate Public Safety Committee to support SB 398 without further dilution, noting that “when someone stands to gain financially—or win a substantial prize—simply for registering to vote, the act risks losing its character as a voluntary civic duty” CCLA SB 398 (Umberg) Su…. By aligning the bill’s language with existing federal vote-buying statutes and adding clear intent and contingency requirements, CCLA and Senator Umberg sought to ensure that only knowing, quid-pro-quo inducements would be criminalized.
Committee Updates and Broad Support
In April 2025, SB 398 moved through the Senate Public Safety Committee. The updated version, which requires that any prohibited payment be made “with the intent to induce the person to vote or to register to vote” or be “contingent upon whether the person voted or on the person’s voter registration status,” received broad bipartisan backing. Committee members praised the bill’s precision—targeting only transactional inducements—while reaffirming California’s commitment to free and fair elections. By the end of May, SB 398 advanced out of committee toward the Senate floor, reflecting a strong consensus that California must prevent future “sweepstakes” from undermining democratic participation.
Why SB 398 Matters for Future Elections
SB 398 goes beyond reacting to a single Musk-style promotion. It recognizes that as technology and campaign tactics evolve, so too do the risks of commodifying democracy. Prize drawings, gift cards, or sweepstakes tied directly to registering or voting can create an uneven playing field—particularly when large donors can purchase massive registrations with a click. By codifying a state-level prohibition on knowing and contingent incentives, SB 398 ensures that any actor—whether a billionaire, a PAC, or a grassroots group—cannot treat voter registration as a marketing exercise.
At the same time, thanks to its intent and contingency language, SB 398 leaves room for legitimate civic engagement. Nonprofit organizations, student associations, faith groups, and neighborhood coalitions can still host pizza nights, hand out free T-shirts, or serve coffee at nonpartisan voter fairs, so long as those items are not conditioned on completing a registration form. In other words, SB 398 upholds the freedom to encourage voting—without ever letting money buy that freedom outright.
Final Thoughts
We’re now less than two years out from the next big statewide elections in 2026—when many of today’s youngest eligible voters will cast their ballots for the first time. Having a clean, non-commodified voter registration process is more important than ever. SB 398 gives California a chance to close a gaping legal loophole, setting a model for other states that might otherwise be caught flat-footed.
On March 27, 2025, CCLA put its name behind SB 398, signaling to lawmakers that strong civil-liberties advocates support a clear, narrowly tailored ban on incentive-based voter registration schemes. With the bill’s passage out of the Senate Public Safety Committee in April, California is poised to close the loophole America PAC once exploited—and prevent future “pay-to-register” gambits from taking root. As CCLA and Senator Umberg have repeatedly emphasized, protecting voter registration from financial inducements preserves not only the integrity of the ballot box, but the dignity and agency of every Californian.