Musk’s group wants registered voters to sign a petition that it can use to target potential supporters of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. It’s offering a cash reward for referrals.
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Elon Musk appeared with former President Donald J. Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. His costly new venture is aimed at identifying voters likely to support Mr. Trump.
Elon Musk is dangling part of his fortune as part of a potentially expensive arrangement to identify likely voters for Donald Trump in seven battleground states.
The super PAC founded by Mr. Musk, the billionaire head of Tesla and SpaceX, is circulating a petition in which voters pledge their support for the First and Second Amendments. And he is offering $47 for each voter recruited to sign it.
The goal is “to get 1 million registered voters in swing states to sign in support of the Constitution, especially freedom of speech and the right to bear arms,” the petition says. If recruiters managed to find 1 million people to sign the petition, Mr. Musk would be on the hook for a staggering $47 million.
The petition, which is also being circulated to Mr. Musk’s 200 million followers on his social media platform X, is meant to identify voters who are particularly energized, a common list-building activity at all levels of politics. Those voters, who have taken the initiative to sign a petition affirming their conservative views, could then be especially targeted by Mr. Musk’s organization, America PAC, to turn out for Mr. Trump.
Like other online list-circulation efforts, this one collects data on signatories. The website asks for the signer’s name, email address, cell number, mailing address and the referrer’s information.
There appears to be no limit on the number of registered voters that someone can refer, raising the possibility that the referral program could be gamed. But the super PAC says that it will check: “Eligible people may only list one eligible person as their referrer. Before payment is made, America PAC will verify the accuracy of all information of the referrer and referee.”
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Source: nytimes.com
