The office of North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is investigating a political action committee created by Elon Musk, owner of X and Tesla, after the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) received a complaint from a political activist alleging violations of state rules.
The complaint claims that Musk’s America PAC was asking website users in several states, including North Carolina, for personal data such as their full address, phone number, and zip code under the guise of helping them register to vote, but then failing to do so. The PAC supports Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump in the 2024 elections against the alleged Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
The complaint was filed by political activist David Wheeler, who alleges fraudulent data collection and storage, a violation of state laws. The NCSBE is investigating the complaint alongside the Attorney General’s office.
The investigation follows similar actions in Michigan and Pennsylvania, where authorities are looking into potential violations of state laws by the PAC. The spokesperson for the Michigan Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, and the Pennsylvania Secretary of State, Al Schmidt, both indicated that their offices are also probing the PAC’s activities.
In response to the allegations, the NCSBE spokesperson Pat Gannon highlighted that North Carolina law requires voter registration to be done through approved state forms, not private websites. Failure to submit voter registration forms after assuring voters it will be done can constitute a criminal offense under North Carolina law.
The investigation is ongoing as authorities seek to determine if any laws were broken in the collection and handling of voter data by Musk’s America PAC.
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