Elon Musk said his Trump-supporting political action committee – America Pac – will donate $1 million every day until Election Day to someone who signs his petition, which effectively encourages Republicans in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania to turn out to vote register.

The commitment, which began Saturday when Musk presented a lottery-style check to the first winner of his contest at a civic event, could mean Musk will have to pay $17 million if he remains the sole donor to his own Pac.

The America Pac petition is for every registered voter in Pennsylvania pledging support for the First and Second Amendments. The petition effectively encourages Trump voters to register to vote so they can enter the $1 million drawing. Attendees at Saturday's town hall meeting were required to sign the petition, which will allow America Pac to collect contact information from more potential voters to vote for Trump.

The petition does not require signers to be Republicans; Any Democrat eligible to vote in Pennsylvania could also sign it.

Musk's event in Harrisburg on Saturday was the third in Pennsylvania, where Musk has laid out the November election in stark terms, encouraging his supporters to vote early and urging others to do the same.

According to FEC disclosures filed this week, Musk has so far donated $75 million to America Pac, which runs the bulk of Donald Trump's ground operations in battleground states.

But the ground game seems to have problems. Previously, the Guardian reported on Saturday that about 25% of door knocks carried out by America Pac in Arizona and Nevada were flagged internally as potentially fraudulent – when customer surveyors falsely claim to have visited a home.

The Trump campaign earlier this year outsourced most of its work to America Pac, which bet that spending millions to elect Trump supporters, particularly those who don't typically vote, would boost returns.

But leaked America Pac data obtained by the Guardian shows that about 24% of door knocks in Arizona and 25% of door knocks in Nevada this week were flagged in “unusual polling logs” by the campaign acquisition app Campaign Sidekick.

America Pac declined to comment. A person familiar with the Pac's field operations disputed that there had actually been door fraud on this scale in Arizona and Nevada, saying they were conducting their own audit.

But the extent of America Pac's stalled operations underscores the risk of outsourcing a grassroots program where paid canvassers are typically not as invested in their candidate's victory compared to volunteers or campaign staff.