Is Elon Musk Trading Cash for Votes?
Money and elections don’t have a happy history. Poll taxes were one of the oldest and most wicked forms of voter suppression until the Voting Rights Act outlawed the practice in 1965. There’s inarguably too much money in politics following the 2010 Citizens United decision, while at the same time we don’t invest nearly enough in basic election administration.
Now comes the world’s richest person and captain of the Trump cheer squad proclaiming, “For every person you refer who is a swing state voter, you get $47! Easy money.”
What, Exactly, Is Going On Here?
Elon Musk is the primary funder of America PAC. America PAC is a super PAC, which means it can spend unlimited sums supporting a candidate as long as it generally doesn’t take direction or get advice from that candidate (“coordination” in legalese).
With this scheme, America PAC is essentially building its database of voters in advance of the election. It works like this: Musk’s PAC posted a petition saying, “Sign Here if You Support The First and Second Amendments!” After you sign, you’re prompted to share the petition with registered voters in swing states who also love free speech and guns. For every registered voter in a swing state who signs the petition based on your referral, you get $47.
Why is Musk’s PAC Doing This?
We know America PAC is spending tens of millions of dollars to support Trump—including through a lot of good, old-fashioned, door-to-door voter contact. We also know Trump is trying boost his numbers by activating registered voters who are turned off from politics and don’t vote regularly (so-called “low propensity voters”).
An educated guess: Musk is using the guise of the America PAC petition—which doesn’t require you to pledge your support for Trump or even pledge to vote at all—to build a list of low propensity voters in swing states who are primarily motivated by First and Second Amendment issues. He’ll then use that list to knock on those voters’ doors to convince them to vote for Trump. (The “coordination” rules give America PAC and the Trump campaign more leeway to work hand-in-hand on door-to-door canvassing, but Musk will also use the list to independently call, text, and email these voters.)
The list America PAC is building is extremely valuable by campaign data standards, because it’s (i) fresh data (including up-to-date contact information); (ii) about voters who are already registered in swing states; that (iii) contains information the voters themselves are telling you they care about most. If the PAC builds a large enough list, it could be a very effective organizing tool to support Trump.
Is This Legal?
To be determined. There’s not necessarily a law against paying people to sign a petition, but, as I said, money and voting mix about as well as Hatfields and McCoys. If Musk’s PAC is staffed by the same genius-level aides that Trump surrounds himself with, someone is bound to break a law at some point. On the other hand, if Musk is as cheap as his candidate, no one will ever see a dollar from this scheme.
A lot remains to be seen. It’s going to be a long 27 days.