Michigan officials investigating Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC that claims to help register voters

A political action committee backed by billionaire Elon Musk in support of former President Donald Trump is being investigated by Michigan’s secretary of state’s office over its efforts to collect voter data in battleground states.

Musk owns Tesla and X, formerly Twitter. America PAC is accused of soliciting detailed personal information about voters under the guise of helping to get them registered to vote.

The America PAC has launched a series of digital ads using the image of Trump’s assassination, to invite people browsing Google to “register to vote,” CNBC reported Friday. In states where the outcome is certain, such as California, the ads actually do direct them to a voter registration site.

According to CNBC, a series of digital ads using images from last month’s attempted assassination of Trump invite viewers to a website for the PAC. Once there, users find a different experience depending on what ZIP code they enter. For those who live in states like California or Wyoming not considered to be battleground states with contested electoral votes, they are sent either to a voter registration page for their state or returned to the sign-up page.

However, for those living in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania or Georgia, the electoral votes of which are likely needed for a presidential candidate to achieve victory in November, users are instead sent to a page requesting detailed personal information, including their age, date of birth, address and cell phone number. Once those details are entered, the user is shown a “thank you” message with no connection made for voter registration in their state.

“So that person who wanted help registering to vote? In the end, they got no help at all registering. But they did hand over priceless personal data to a political operation,” said the CNBC report.

“Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state, “ said Angela Benander, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, in a statement provided to Michigan Advance.

Benander said that while the America PAC is a federal political action committee, the department is reviewing their activities to determine if there have been any violations of state law. 

“We will refer potential violations to the Michigan Attorney General’s office as appropriate,” she said. “As always, we encourage every Michigan voter to make sure they verify any voting or election-related information with official sources. Michigan.gov/Vote is the best official state source for Michigan voters, along with a voter’s county or local clerk’s office.”

An attempt was made by the Advance to request a comment from the PAC, but the “media inquiry” page on the website was not processing requests. 

Mary Massaron is an attorney with the Detroit-based Plunkett Cooney law firm who voiced concerns about the PAC to CNBC. She told the Advance that while it can’t be determined with any certainty that the PAC is violating the law, it is still of great concern.

“In this world of the internet and social media, citizens look for information about candidates, election procedures, and how to participate on-line. To the extent any internet site suggests it will help a potential voter register to vote and then collects personal information but fails to direct that voter to registration information, it is troubling,” said Massaron. “Our system of government depends on citizen participation. It seems to me that everyone – candidates, public officials, and PACs that engage in public education and advocacy – should try to assure easy access to accurate registration information to increase the likelihood that citizens are able to make their views known.”

Musk confirmed in a recent interview that he helped to create America PAC and is providing some of its funding. Other backers include Joe Lonsdale, who co-founded data analytics giant Palantir Technologies with Peter Theil, and cryptocurrency backers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. 

This story was originally published by the Michigan Advance