WISCONSIN — Elon Musk in a post on Friday said he'll give a talk in Wisconsin on Sunday for those who have signed his petition for opposition to "activist judges." The visit comes just days before the pivotal state Supreme Court election.

Musk had originally posted about his visit on Thursday night, saying the event would be open to those who had already voted in the state Supreme Court election. He later deleted the post to clarify the rally would only be open to those who signed his petition.

In the latest post about his visit, Musk said he’d be giving out checks for $1 million to two people that would be "spokesmen for the petition." He didn't say how the two people were chosen. The action was announced despite a Wisconsin law that explicitly prohibits giving anything of value in exchange for a vote.

Musk has already handed out $1 million to Scott Ainsworth, a mechanical engineer from Green Bay, for signing a petition in opposition to “activist judges." In a video posted on X, Ainsworth encouraged people to sign the petition and “get out and vote early for Brad Schimel.”

“If everyone in the MAGA movement shows up and votes for Brad Schimel, we will win,” Ainsworth said in the video.

Ainsworth donated $350 to Schimel's campaign this year, campaign finance records show.

It's all part of a measure that was introduced last week by Musk’s political action committee, America First, which said it was offering $100 to voters who signed the petition, but didn’t indicate there would be a $1 million prize.

Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for Musk's political action committee, declined to say whether Ainsworth was one of the two who would be receiving $1 million as initially indicated on Sunday.

Musk’s political action committee used a nearly identical tactic before the White House election last year, offering to pay $1 million a day to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states who signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments.

The tactic has drawn criticism from Democratic-supported candidate Susan Crawford, who says it’s an attempt to illegally buy influence in the state Supreme Court race.

“Elon Musk has spent more than $20 million so far buying off corrupt Brad Schimel to try and secure a favorable ruling in his company’s lawsuit. This visit is just a last-minute desperate distraction as voters are turned off by Schimel wanting to ban abortion and his failure to test rape kits. Wisconsinites don’t want a billionaire like Musk telling them who to vote for, and on Tuesday, voters should reject Musk’s lackey Brad Schimel,” Crawford campaign spokesman Derrick Honeyman said in a statement responding to Musk's Sunday event announcement. 

The upcoming election on Tuesday will determine whether Wisconsin’s highest court will remain under 4-3 liberal control or flip to a conservative majority. Crawford is running against Republican-backed Judge Brad Schimel, who has earned the endorsement of President Donald Trump and more than $17 million in funding from America PAC and Building for America’s Future, two groups that Musk funds.

Trump, a Republican, endorsed Brad Schimel and hosted a telephone town hall with him on Thursday night.

“It’s a very important race,” Trump said in brief remarks by phone, in a call organized by Schimel’s campaign. “I know you feel it’s local, but it’s not. It’s really much more than local. The whole country is watching.”

Musk has not shared further details about when and where the Sunday event will be held. Schimel’s campaign spokesperson did not immediately return a message early Friday about whether Schimel would attend the event with Musk.

Schimel, a former attorney general, was asked about the petition on Thursday by WISN-TV.

“I, frankly, thought, ‘Should I sign that petition? I’m against activist judges, but I don’t think I should do that,’” Schimel said.

When asked about the $1 million award, Schimel said, “I don’t know what the criteria to get it was.”

Any legal challenge to Musk’s payments could end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

A bipartisan coalition of government watchdog groups and former officeholders, along with a liberal Madison law firm, asked the Wisconsin attorney general and the Milwaukee County district attorney to investigate the $1 million payment and the offer of $100 for signing the petition.

The group, in its letter sent Thursday night, said the payments appear to violate the state law against election bribery.

Attorney General Josh filed a lawsuit in county circuit asking the court to prevent Musk from "making illegal payments to Wisconsin voters at an event in Wisconsin this weekend." 

“Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening,” Kaul said earlier Friday before he filed the lawsuit. 

Kaul asked the court to order that Musk stop promoting the Sunday giveaway and not make any future payments to Wisconsin voters. Kaul referenced the changing plans for the Sunday event in arguing that any payment to voters was a violation of state law.

Even though the original post was deleted, there has been no announcement that the payments will not be made, Kaul argued in the lawsuit.

Kaul's lawsuit was initially randomly assigned to Crawford but reassigned to another judge in neighboring Columbia County within minutes.

After a campaign stop in Beaver Dam, in south central Wisconsin, Schimel declined to say whether or not he thought Musk's proposal was illegal, or whether Kaul's move was appropriate.

“I don't know. I'm not his lawyer," Schimel said of Musk after the event in a strip mall parking lot.

As for Kaul's lawsuit, he said: “I don't care what he does. That's his business. I'm running for Wisconsin Supreme Court. I don't get involved in those legal battles. And I don't give legal advice.”

Romeo also declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Musk got involved in the race just days after his electric car company, Tesla, filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin in an effort to open dealerships in the state.

Spending in the race has broken records, with more than $81 million spent so far, according to tallies by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.