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How Elon Musk is disrupting US elections to boost Trump (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 3 months ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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[-] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 121 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I was wondering how one can defraud a voter...

The 15-second ad ends with a message to “REGISTER TO VOTE NOW.”

Users are asked for their address, phone number and age. After they hit submit, they’re told “thank you” — and that’s it.

By the end of their visit to Musk’s PAC website, not only were they not registered to vote, they also ended up handing over extremely valuable data to a billionaire-backed operation.

It’s unclear whether the stunt broke any campaign finance laws

That does seem like it goes beyond mere lying and into fraud, but I'm not a lawyer.

[+] shalafi@lemmy.world -30 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I see no law broken, and also INAL.

Nothing was offered in exchange for anything. The message was, "Register to vote now!" Didn't say they would help you with that.

We need legislation regarding things like this, can't imagine what that looks like. Law doesn't have, "that doesn't seem right" provisions.

The interesting question is, "How do we tackle shit like this that suckers idiots?" American law is distinctly against the notion of, "I didn't know better!"

Does contract law apply in any way? I'm rambling here, someone step up with facts and precedence.

[-] Boddhisatva@lemmy.world 26 points 3 months ago

Also not a lawyer, but OPs article is less complete than this article as far as Musk's operation went.

According to CNBC, the PAC asked website visitors who entered zip codes in battleground states to enter personal data — including dates of birth, full addresses and phone numbers — claiming it would help them register to vote through the site. Users in non-competitive states, however, were directed to their states' official voter registration pages.

Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia were among the battleground states where visitors to America PAC's website did not receive help submitting their voter registration despite the site claiming it would provide assistance, CNBC noted.

The site said it would help them register, took their information then, if they weren't from a battle ground state, forwarded them to their state's voter registration page. If they were from a battleground state, the site harvested their information, said thanks, and then failed to register them. That is likely fraud according at least two different states that are investigating the matter.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Ah! Now we have a claim offering something. That seems to change the whole offer. But again, not like I know shit about contract law.

this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2024

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