A pro-Donald Trump super PAC funded by billionaire Elon Musk is collecting battleground state voters’ personal information through an ad pretending to help them register to vote.
CNBC.com reported Friday that Musk’s America PAC is running an online ad that shows a young man scrolling through his cellphone while lying in bed when he gets a text saying, “You need to vote,” followed by a video of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump last month in Butler County.
The man responds, “This is out of control! How do I start?” and the person replies, “Register to vote! It’s easy!” A link to the America PAC then pops on screen.
Users who go to the website and click the “Register to Vote” tab will get a result that depends on whether they live in a presidential battleground state or not.
If a user lives in a battleground state, such as Pennsylvania, the website will ask for a slew of personal information, including an email, cellphone number, address and birthdate, without helping them register to vote.
Conversely, if a user lives in a nonbattleground state, the website will direct them to their state’s voter registration website.
On Friday, PennLive went to the website and first used information for a Pennsylvania resident. A page seeking personal information appeared.
When information for a resident of Maryland was submitted, the America PAC website directed the user to a voter services website for that nonbattleground state.
Asked about the America PAC ad and website, the Pennsylvania Department of State told PennLive in a statement that it is “aware of reporting that voters in certain states, including Pennsylvania, are being targeted by deceptive advertising relating to voter registration. The right to vote is precious, and it is unacceptable to deny voters accurate information about their voter application status.”
The department said it allows partisan and nonpartisan groups that “undergo rigorous security testing and agree to be bound by the department’s Terms of Use” to submit voter registration applications, but “America PAC has not applied to participate in this program, and the department is not aware of the entity taking any steps to submit electronic voter registration applications for processing.”
Voters, the department said, should “remain vigilant against misinformation from unverified and unreliable sources.” Pennsylvania voters can visit vote.pa.gov for more information and pavoterservices.pa.gov to check their voter registration status.
Musk owns the micro-blogging site X (formerly known as Twitter) as well as Tesla and SpaceX. CNBC reported he is worth $235 billion.
On X/Twitter, Musk has removed most of the safeguards previously in place to block political disinformation while regularly sharing conspiracy theories with his nearly 193 million followers.
The New Republic reported America PAC has put $800,000 into digital ads in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada and Wisconsin.
America PAC, according to The New Republic, is a “door-to-door canvassing operation” that can directly coordinate with the Trump campaign.
CNBC reported America PAC has spent more than $21 million since June on canvassing, digital media, text message services and phone calls.
“I think it is safe to assume that the voter data gathered through these digital appeals are going to inform America PAC’s canvassing and other political activities,” Brendan Fisher, a deputy executive director of the campaign finance watchdog group Documented, told CNBC.
