A pro-Trump campaign aims to mobilize more voters with a petition. It’s also about money.
Offering someone money for a vote in an election is prohibited by law in the United States. But a group of Trump supporters founded by Tesla boss Elon Musk has found a way to still advertise with cash. This is not promised for casting a vote for Trump. But it’s clearly about support for Republican policies – and therefore for Donald Trump.
The Super PAC, as the multi-million dollar support groups for presidential candidates in the US are called, wants to give $47 to any helper who convinces a registered voter to sign a petition. This is about supporting the right to freedom of expression and to bear arms – both of which are already enshrined in the constitution. The goal is to convince one million registered voters to sign the petition. Musk, who finances the “America PAC,” would then have to spend $47 million. The amount of money is apparently a reference to the fact that Trump will be the 47th President of the USA if he wins.
On Wednesday, Musk shared images of election workers being photographed with dollar bills on his network. “The first funds were raised in Philly [Philadelphia] delivered personally,” said an “America PAC” post shared by Musk.
The petition is aimed at voters who are politically close to the Republicans. If they sign the call, they can become a better target for Musk and Trump’s presidential election campaigns. When registering for the petition, they must provide their name, email address, mobile number, home address and the name of the person who recommended the petition to them.
To avoid abuse, anyone who signs the petition must only identify one person who made the recommendation. While it is forbidden to give money to voters for voting or registering, petitions are different. It’s not illegal to pay voters money to sign a petition or the people they persuade to sign, writes The New York Times.
Musk has long experience with referral programs. As the New York Times reports, he had already used this marketing strategy with the payment service PayPal, which he founded, and also with Tesla.
Musk is also preparing to spend more of his money on nationwide home visits by poll workers. His super PAC has hired thousands of campaigners in recent months. They should be paid $30 an hour to promote Trump and voter registration.
The background to the efforts is the attempt to get as many voters as possible to the ballot box. While Trump rejected postal voting months ago, he is now repeatedly calling on voters to register and cast their votes by post. Polls show a very close race between him and Kamala Harris, so in the end every vote could count.
