Elon Musk’s America PAC offers bounty for contact info of millions of registered voters in battleground states
Fortune · (Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Christiaan Hetzner
Mon, October 7, 2024
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is paying a bounty for voter registration data with the help of a petition as he seeks to return Donald Trump to the White House this November.
The world’s wealthiest entrepreneur confirmed his political action committee, America PAC, will offer a $47 reward for the name, address, and phone number of each registered voter in battleground states who signs an online statement in favor of rights already protected by the Constitution.
The amount, symbolic for the 47th presidency to which Trump aspires, will go to the person who refers the swing state voter.
“Goal is to get 1 [million] voters in swing states to show support for free speech & right to bear arms,” Musk posted on Sunday. “Easy money.”
Under the offer, which expires on Oct. 21, only individuals in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina stand to receive a reward.
Voters in Musk’s adopted state of Texas, for example, are not eligible for the reward even if they are registered to cast a ballot in the 47th presidential election—regardless of their support for the Constitution.
Since the petition is not affiliated with Trump's Republican Party, signatories are not directed to the RNC website. Instead they must enter their personal data—including name, postal address, email address, and cell phone number—directly into the America PAC database.
Eligible voters may only list one person as their referrer, and the PAC intends to make sure the info it bought is worth the money. "Before payment is made America PAC will verify the accuracy of all information of the referrer and referree," it stipulates.
Once that is done, Musk's political vehicle has all the relevant data it needs to deploy canvassers to their neighborhood to ensure voters do show up on polling day.
Neither Musk nor America PAC responded to a request for comment from Fortune.
The 1-million-voter target may not seem like much, but campaign experts often note that Biden won the electoral college and, with it, the presidency by a margin of just 44,000 votes in a handful of states that flipped from red to blue.
Set against that number, 1 million potential new Trump voters could easily affect the election outcome.
It could cost Musk millions
On Sunday, the Tesla CEO made his first campaign appearance alongside Trump in Butler, Pa., where a would-be assassin made an attempt on the life of the former president this summer.
That day in July also marked the start of Musk’s public endorsement of the former president.
“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” he told the crowd.
Left in power, the Democrats would find a way to do away with Americans’ inalienable rights protected under law, he claimed.
Should Harris be declared the victor next month, Musk added, “this will be the last election—that’s my prediction.”
With his 200 million followers on X, Musk has become Trump’s most vocal and valuable champion. Yet his wholesale partisanship has driven a split within the Tesla community that broadly skews progressive.
“As you can see, I’m not just MAGA, I’m Dark MAGA,” Musk said at the rally, sporting a Make America Great Again baseball cap colored black instead of red.
In theory, America PAC’s move to buy voter data could get expensive for Musk.
Pennsylvania—the biggest battleground state prize on the electoral map with 19 electoral votes up for grabs—has nearly 8.7 million registered voters as of the start of this year, according to the latest official data.
Of that total, 40% are Republicans with another 15% unaffiliated with either of the two main parties. Musk could even end up paying for the contact info of registered Democrats.
If he only got 1% of the state’s total, it would cost him $4 million.
Should his PAC achieve the full 1 million to sign the petition in support of rights already guaranteed by the Constitution, that would be $47 million right there, assuming each signatory was claimed as a referral.
Musk stands to wield heavy influence in Trump White House
For Musk, it would nonetheless be a shrewd investment.
Biden’s administration has taken a robust approach to regulation in a number of areas, enraging Silicon Valley billionaires like Musk and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.
By comparison, Trump has a record of weakening federal regulators, like the EPA, that bind businesses in red tape.
Not only has he praised Musk’s culling of the workforce at Twitter, he’s also considering granting Musk’s wish for widespread authority to cut the federal workforce as part of a potential new “Department of Government Efficiency.”
It’s possible that the entrepreneur would first target agencies that have vexed him and his business interests.
For example, Musk threatened last month to sue the Federal Aviation Administration over what he called “regulatory overreach,” and he’s already sued the National Labor Relations Board.
But with a relatively paltry amount of cash, Musk’s various companies stand to gain significantly from a second Trump administration.
Regulations mean little if they are not actively enforced—and Musk could wield considerable influence over agency resources like personnel.
Trump, who got elected in part thanks to a claim that he was rich enough not to be bought, is facing high legal costs and is now heavily dependent on Musk’s backing to mobilize voters.
Earlier this year, Trump installed his daughter-in-law as chair of the Republican Party, and ever since, he has pioneered the use of outsourcing—a common business practice—in political campaigning.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Mon, October 7, 2024
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is paying a bounty for voter registration data with the help of a petition as he seeks to return Donald Trump to the White House this November.
The world’s wealthiest entrepreneur confirmed his political action committee, America PAC, will offer a $47 reward for the name, address, and phone number of each registered voter in battleground states who signs an online statement in favor of rights already protected by the Constitution.
The amount, symbolic for the 47th presidency to which Trump aspires, will go to the person who refers the swing state voter.
“Goal is to get 1 [million] voters in swing states to show support for free speech & right to bear arms,” Musk posted on Sunday. “Easy money.”
Under the offer, which expires on Oct. 21, only individuals in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina stand to receive a reward.
Voters in Musk’s adopted state of Texas, for example, are not eligible for the reward even if they are registered to cast a ballot in the 47th presidential election—regardless of their support for the Constitution.
Since the petition is not affiliated with Trump's Republican Party, signatories are not directed to the RNC website. Instead they must enter their personal data—including name, postal address, email address, and cell phone number—directly into the America PAC database.
Eligible voters may only list one person as their referrer, and the PAC intends to make sure the info it bought is worth the money. "Before payment is made America PAC will verify the accuracy of all information of the referrer and referree," it stipulates.
Once that is done, Musk's political vehicle has all the relevant data it needs to deploy canvassers to their neighborhood to ensure voters do show up on polling day.
Neither Musk nor America PAC responded to a request for comment from Fortune.
The 1-million-voter target may not seem like much, but campaign experts often note that Biden won the electoral college and, with it, the presidency by a margin of just 44,000 votes in a handful of states that flipped from red to blue.
Set against that number, 1 million potential new Trump voters could easily affect the election outcome.
It could cost Musk millions
On Sunday, the Tesla CEO made his first campaign appearance alongside Trump in Butler, Pa., where a would-be assassin made an attempt on the life of the former president this summer.
That day in July also marked the start of Musk’s public endorsement of the former president.
“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” he told the crowd.
Left in power, the Democrats would find a way to do away with Americans’ inalienable rights protected under law, he claimed.
Should Harris be declared the victor next month, Musk added, “this will be the last election—that’s my prediction.”
With his 200 million followers on X, Musk has become Trump’s most vocal and valuable champion. Yet his wholesale partisanship has driven a split within the Tesla community that broadly skews progressive.
“As you can see, I’m not just MAGA, I’m Dark MAGA,” Musk said at the rally, sporting a Make America Great Again baseball cap colored black instead of red.
In theory, America PAC’s move to buy voter data could get expensive for Musk.
Pennsylvania—the biggest battleground state prize on the electoral map with 19 electoral votes up for grabs—has nearly 8.7 million registered voters as of the start of this year, according to the latest official data.
Of that total, 40% are Republicans with another 15% unaffiliated with either of the two main parties. Musk could even end up paying for the contact info of registered Democrats.
If he only got 1% of the state’s total, it would cost him $4 million.
Should his PAC achieve the full 1 million to sign the petition in support of rights already guaranteed by the Constitution, that would be $47 million right there, assuming each signatory was claimed as a referral.
Musk stands to wield heavy influence in Trump White House
For Musk, it would nonetheless be a shrewd investment.
Biden’s administration has taken a robust approach to regulation in a number of areas, enraging Silicon Valley billionaires like Musk and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.
By comparison, Trump has a record of weakening federal regulators, like the EPA, that bind businesses in red tape.
Not only has he praised Musk’s culling of the workforce at Twitter, he’s also considering granting Musk’s wish for widespread authority to cut the federal workforce as part of a potential new “Department of Government Efficiency.”
It’s possible that the entrepreneur would first target agencies that have vexed him and his business interests.
For example, Musk threatened last month to sue the Federal Aviation Administration over what he called “regulatory overreach,” and he’s already sued the National Labor Relations Board.
But with a relatively paltry amount of cash, Musk’s various companies stand to gain significantly from a second Trump administration.
Regulations mean little if they are not actively enforced—and Musk could wield considerable influence over agency resources like personnel.
Trump, who got elected in part thanks to a claim that he was rich enough not to be bought, is facing high legal costs and is now heavily dependent on Musk’s backing to mobilize voters.
Earlier this year, Trump installed his daughter-in-law as chair of the Republican Party, and ever since, he has pioneered the use of outsourcing—a common business practice—in political campaigning.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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