Scammy Elon Musk 'Voter Reg' Site Won't Register You To Vote, Will Harvest Your Data For Trump
By: Gary Legum
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Maaaaybe not illegal? (Might be illegal!) But definitely shady as all get-out.
Gary Legum
Aug 03, 2024
Donald Trump's presidential campaign has reportedly been skimping on its on-the-ground voter turnout component, because such an operation costs money and his latest check from the Egyptian government is probably going towards Orange Julius's astounding legal bills anyway.
But that does not mean someone else cannot step up, which is why Twitter honcho and ketamine puddle Elon Musk started a super PAC, creatively named The America PAC, to take up some of the slack. Which, as CNBC reports, he is doing through a very weird and scuzzy effort that basically tricks people into turning over personal info, which will then be used later for … something. Voter canvassing? Intimidation campaigns? Prank pizza deliveries? It's unclear, and we'll get to why in a minute.
Have you subscribed to Wonkette? WHY HAVEN'T YOU SUBSCRIBED TO WONKETTE???
Subscribe
But first, this ad, as described by CNBC:
The ad shows a young man lying in bed late at night when someone else texts him, "Hey you need to vote," and then sends the man a video of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The man can hear the gunshots and people screaming in the background.
As Trump is rushed off stage with blood pouring down his face, the man watching the video types in response, "This is out of control. How do I start?"
The ad then displays a website for a group called America PAC.
Damn, we wish someone would text us something that hot when we're lying in bed late at night.
The ad directs the viewer to the America PAC website, which has a button reading "Register to Vote." Push the button and you will be directed to enter an email address and your zip code. If your zip code places you in a noncompetitive state like California, you will be automatically directed to that state's voter registration page. Simple!
But if the zip code is from a battleground state such as Pennsylvania or Michigan, the site directs you to a page that asks for additional basic information (name, address, email, phone number). So you fill in that form, push the giant green "Proceed" button, and …
Nothing. You get taken to a page reading "Thank You." That's it.
You might think that you are now registered to vote, but in truth, the America PAC site has not helped you register to vote at all. It has however hoovered up your personal information for unknown purposes. A lawyer on Bluesky put in info for a voter in Georgia; he got back this gobbledygook:
But of course no info had been submitted to Georgia at all.
The America PAC claims it is focusing on door-to-door canvassing for voters. What it does not do is identify itself as being one giant data harvesting operation for the Trump campaign.
Now the PAC has lists of addresses to which it can send canvassers and door-knockers for Trump. It can inundate them with campaign literature pushing them to vote for Trump. It can coordinate all this activity with the Trump campaign. It is basically an outsourced get-out-the-vote operation that costs the Trump campaign nothing. All while its website specifically says it is "not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."
Of course the America PAC has not accomplished the one most important step, the one its entire website process allegedly exists to complete: It has not actually registered any of the people at that address to vote. But the voter won't actually know that until he shows up at his polling place on Election Day. So if he or she is a Democrat-leaning voter who has ignored all Trump canvassers and campaign literature, well, bummer, but the PAC has just made it harder for them to vote.
We are not campaign lawyers, but this sounds awfully fraudy to us.
Anything to add, New York Times? "Musk-Backed Super PAC Shakes Up Pro-Trump Field Program."
Ah yes, thank you for your service.
Share
[CNBC]
Tags
Who is online
639 visitors
Sorta like the one, who was it , Manafort maybe, the one he had given to Putins Russia, so they knew where to focus the Russian bots maybe....Had to laugh when I caugfht a snippet of Trumps propaganda gathering. Trump is again toting electric vehicles, cause obviously a condition by Musk if Trump wants any superpac cashish
good point
It’s probably better if people who can’t figure out how to register to vote just don’t do it. I can’t imagine this being a hard thing to figure out for anyone with a thinking brain. Those types will vote Republican anyways.