How Musk's America PAC Collects Swing State Voter Data

As the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris heats up, Elon Musk's America PAC is spending millions to collect personal information on voters in battleground states using a voter registration prompt.

According to NBC News, a voter in Michigan might encounter an ad on Google that shows a young man in bed late at night when he receives a text: "Hey you need to vote." The man also receives a video of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and texts back, "This is out of control. How do I start?"

The ad then shows America PAC's website, which claims it will help the viewer register to vote. Once the user clicks "Register to Vote" on the site, however, their experience could vary based on where in the country they live.

Users who live in battleground states, like Pennsylvania or Georgia, are reportedly directed to a detailed personal information form that asks for their address, cell phone number and age. After agreeing to submit the data, they are sent to a "thank you" page, instead of their state's voter registration page, and never actually receive help registering to vote.

Users in noncompetitive states, such as California or Wyoming, are asked to enter their email address and zip code and are then directed to the voter registration page for their state or back to the original sign up section, according to NBC.

Musk, a tech billionaire who owns the social media platform X, said in a recent interview that he "created a PAC, or a super PAC ... the America PAC."

According to AdImpact, the America PAC has spent more than $800,000 since early June on digital ads that target voters in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Appearing on Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms and Google's YouTube, the ads all urged people to register to vote at America PAC's website.

"America PAC is focusing on door-to-door canvassing in support of Trump," Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director at campaign finance watchdog Documented, told NBC.

"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," he added.

Fischer noted that America PAC's privacy policy states it can use the collected information for "other activities and/or fundraising campaigns."

The group's website gives no indication of its political leanings, but its federal filings reveal that its work is designed to help Trump and hurt Harris.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that America PAC has spent more than $21 million on canvassing, digital media buys, text messaging services and phone calls since June.

Fischer told NBC he has seen other PACs try to use a voter registration prompt to gather people's data, but America PAC is unique because of who is behind it and its timing.

Super PACs are generally not allowed to coordinate directly with a campaign, but regulators ruled this spring that door-to-door canvassing is permitted because, unlike an ad, it is an interaction between people.

"What makes America PAC more unique: it is a billionaire-backed super PAC focused on door-to-door canvassing, which it can conduct in coordination with a presidential campaign," Fischer said. "Thanks to a recent FEC advisory opinion, America PAC may legally coordinate its canvassing activities with the Trump campaign — meaning, among other things, that the Trump campaign may provide America PAC with the literature and scripts to make sure their efforts are consistent."

"Coordination is incredibly important: it ensures that the PAC's activities are maximally beneficial to the campaign, and frees up the campaign's own funds for other uses," he said. "I suspect that the PAC's ability to coordinate its data-driven canvassing activities with the Trump campaign made it very appealing for donors."

Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of the software company Palantir, is also reportedly a leader of the PAC, as well as a "political confidant" to Musk. Between April 1 and June 30, America PAC raised more than $8 million, including donations from veteran investor Doug Leone and cryptocurrency investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, according to FEC records.