2026-10-10T10:30:44.960Z / 美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)
上周,埃隆·马斯克的超级政治行动委员会向科罗拉多州一群选民发送了内容一致的短信:“你的选票申请已收到,”短信写道,“请确认寄还选票的地点和时间。”
但科罗拉多州所有活跃的登记选民都会自动收到邮寄选票,马斯克的美国政治行动委员会(America PAC)发送的这条消息引发了当地居民的困惑,他们纷纷致电或发邮件给各县选举办公室。
“人们会说:‘等等,我没提交过选票申请,是不是有什么问题?有人替我提交申请了吗?’”丹佛北部韦尔德县的共和党选举负责人卡莉·科普斯说道。
科罗拉多州和华盛顿州的选举官员已就这个与马斯克有关的组织发布的不实信息发出公开警告。这位亿万富翁正斥巨资助力共和党在中期选举中获胜。
长期以来,第三方团体一直在选举前开展选民登记动员和其他选民 outreach 活动,有时会使用过时的商业信息。但鉴于该政治行动委员会的高额投入以及此前选举中的非传统操作——包括为鼓励投票而争议性地送出100万美元赠品,其策略受到了特别严格的审查。
美国政治行动委员会的发言人未回应有关科罗拉多州短信的置评请求。该超级政治行动委员会在X平台上发文称,华盛顿州官员批评该委员会的活动是在“压制”选民登记。
马斯克作为全球首富,是2024年联邦选举中公开披露的最大捐赠者,斥资近3亿美元助力唐纳德·特朗普总统和共和党人当选。如今他再次大手笔投入政坛,目标是帮助共和党在特朗普任期的最后两年保住国会控制权。
根据美国联邦选举委员会的备案,截至周五上午,美国政治行动委员会已报告斥资近4000万美元用于独立开支,以影响参议院和众议院的选举。
其中大部分资金,即超过3100万美元,被用于参议院竞选,其中以得克萨斯州的选战最为突出。该州是马斯克多家企业的总部所在地,也是共和党人肯·帕克斯顿与民主党人詹姆斯·塔拉里科之间激烈角逐的战场。
在本次选举周期中,马斯克已披露向美国政治行动委员会捐赠约5000万美元,向其他共和党关联的超级政治行动委员会捐赠4000万美元,此外还向国会候选人进行了数额较小的直接捐款。
并非所有资金都用于联邦候选人。其中包括马斯克5月向一个助力共和党人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米竞选俄亥俄州州长的超级政治行动委员会捐赠的500万美元。两人曾协助创立联邦政府效率部,马斯克在特朗普第二任期初期曾短暂担任该部门负责人。
本月晚些时候,美国政治行动委员会提交的7月至9月季度报告将披露更多有关马斯克个人投资的细节。
联邦记录显示,在中期选举中,马斯克的团队专注于基层动员,数百万美元被用于数字广告、电话短信和印刷费用。
美国政治行动委员会在脸书等平台投放的数字广告通常以攻击性言论开头,抨击民主党,旨在鼓励共和党选民投票。其中一则针对得克萨斯州的广告画面显示一名留着胡须的男子正在浓妆。“别待在家里,让疯狂的自由派选出激进分子,”广告文案写道。
这些广告引导用户通过VoteSafe.org网站查询自己的选民登记状态。进入该网站后,用户会被要求提供个人信息,包括手机号码和电子邮件地址,这为该团体在选举日前与他们取得联系提供了渠道。
“提供你的电话号码和电子邮件,即表示你同意接收美国政治行动委员会的电子邮件、电话和短信,”一则披露声明写道。此外,网站还警告称,“本网站上有关投票和选民登记的信息均来自第三方,未必准确。”
运营着竞选创新中心的共和党数字策略师埃里克·威尔逊称该政治行动委员会的活动“是相当标准的催票手段”。
他表示,马斯克的政治团队通过VoteSafe.org网站加入了创新元素,值得州选举官员借鉴,其中包括一项“美国通行证”,选民可将其添加到谷歌或苹果钱包中,随时查看投票截止日期和提前投票时段。
“在这个国家,竞选活动的职责之一就是动员选民投票,”威尔逊说道,“州选举官员应该感到羞愧,因为政治行动委员会和政治活动人士不得不开发出更完善的流程,来告知和提醒选民如何投票。”
不过,华盛顿州民主党务卿史蒂夫·霍布斯明确敦促选民远离VoteSafe.org网站。
“不要依赖那些自身都警告投票信息可能不准确的网站,而是直接从州和地方选举办公室获取准确及时的信息,”霍布斯办公室的一份声明写道,“这样你就能确保自己的地址、联系信息和个人数据是交给真正的选举官员,而不是交给那些实际上无法帮你完成选民登记的第三方。”
在科罗拉多州,民主党务卿杰娜·格里斯沃尔德也呼吁选民依靠她的办公室和县书记员获取“准确、可信”的选举信息,此前丹佛北部的居民收到了美国政治行动委员会发送的短信。她称该超级政治行动委员会的信息“具有误导性”。
当地官员表示,涉事短信的目标群体包括韦尔德县和亚当斯县的选民。共和党新任众议员加布·埃文斯与民主党人、前州议员曼尼·鲁蒂内尔在此展开角逐,独立政治评级机构将该选区评为势均力敌的摇摆选区。
美国政治行动委员会已报告为助力埃文斯的竞选活动斥资超过22.8万美元。
亚当斯县选举负责人乔希·齐吉尔鲍姆是民主党人,他表示自己接到了约12通选民来电,询问有关短信的问题。虽然他很难统计有多少选民收到了该短信,但“如今人们通常不会随便打电话,除非遇到了重大问题,所以这么多来电通常意味着这是一个更严重的问题,”他说道。
邻县韦尔德县的最高选举官员科普斯表示,她“不得不与一些选民进行澄清对话”,以消除他们的担忧。
“选举期间第三方团体尝试开展催票活动是很常见的事,”科普斯向选民解释道,“但我们无法管控他们,也无法管控他们使用的措辞是否正确。”
Elon Musk’s PAC is spreading inaccurate voting information, election officials say
2026-10-10T10:30:44.960Z / CNN
The texts from Elon Musk’s super PAC arrived last week, all with the same message to a group of Colorado voters: “Your ballot request is in,” they read. “Confirm now where and when to return it.”
But every active registered voter in Colorado automatically receives a mail ballot, and the message from Musk’s America PAC set off a flurry of calls and emails from confused residents to county offices.
“People were like, ‘Wait a second. I didn’t submit that request. Is something fishy going on? Did someone submit something on my behalf?’” said Carly Koppes, a Republican who is the election chief in Weld County, north of Denver.
Election officials in Colorado and Washington state have issued public warnings about inaccurate information from the group tied to Musk, the billionaire who is spending heavily to sway the midterm elections in Republicans’ favor.
Third-party groups long have engaged in voter-registration drives and other outreach to voters ahead of elections, sometimes relying on out-of-date commercially available information. But the PAC’s tactics have drawn particular scrutiny, given its heavy spending and unorthodox activity in previous elections — including controversial $1 million giveaways to encourage turnout.
A spokesman for America PAC did not respond to questions about the Colorado messages. In a post on X, the super PAC argued that Washington state officials were trying to “suppress” voter registration in criticizing the PAC’s activity.
Musk, the world’s richest man, was the largest publicly disclosed donor of the 2024 federal election, spending nearly $300 million to elect President Donald Trump and Republicans in that cycle. And he’s once again plowing big money into politics, this time with the goal of helping the GOP retain control of Congress during the last two years of Trump’s presidency.
As of Friday morning, America PAC had reported spending nearly $40 million on independent expenditures to influence Senate and House contests, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
The lion’s share of the spending, more than $31 million, has gone to shape Senate races, led by Texas, home to many of Musk’s businesses and the site of a fierce contest between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico.
So far in this cycle, Musk has disclosed donating about $50 million to America PAC and another $40 million to other Republican-aligned super PACs, along with smaller, direct donations to congressional candidates.
Not all of the money has benefited federal candidates. The total includes $5 million that Musk donated in May to a super PAC aiding Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s bid for Ohio governor. The two men helped create the federal Department of Government Efficiency that Musk briefly led at the start of Trump’s second term.
More details on Musk’s personal investments will be disclosed later this month when America PAC files a report covering the July-to-September quarter with federal regulators.
In the midterms, Musk’s team is focused on ground-level mobilization, with millions of dollars going to digital ads, phone messaging and printing expenses, federal records show.
America PAC’s digital advertising on platforms such as Facebook often starts with a provocative message attacking Democrats and aimed at encouraging Republicans to get to the polls. One focused on Texas shows a bearded man applying heavy makeup. “Don’t stay home while the crazy liberals elect radicals,” the ad says.
The ads direct users to check their voter registration status via VoteSafe.org. Once there, they are asked to supply personal information, including their cell phone numbers and email addresses, an avenue for the group to contact them through Election Day.
“By providing your telephone number and email, you consent to receive emails, calls and text messages from America PAC,” a disclosure reads. Additionally, the site warns that “the information about voting and registering to vote on this website is sourced from third parties and may not necessarily be accurate.”
Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist who runs the Center for Campaign Innovation, called the PAC’s activity “pretty standard get-out-the-vote tactics.”
And he said Musk’s political operation has added innovations through VoteSafe.org that state election officials could learn from, including an “America Pass” that voters can add to their Google or Apple wallets, keeping information about ballot deadlines and early voting windows close at hand.
“One of the jobs of campaigns in this country is to turn voters out,” Wilson said. “State election officials ought to be embarrassed that PACs and political campaigners have had to create a better process for informing and reminding voters about casting their ballots.”
Still, in Washington state, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, has made a point of urging voters to steer clear of VoteSafe.org.
“Instead of relying on a website that itself warns its voting information may not be accurate, get accurate and timely information directly from your state and local election offices,” said a statement from Hobbs’ office. “That way you know that you’re giving your address, contact information, and personal data to actual election officials, not a third party that can’t actually register you to vote.”
In Colorado, Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold also has called on voters to rely on her office and county clerks “for accurate, trusted information” about the election after people who live north of Denver received text messages from America PAC.
She called the super PAC’s messaging “misleading.”
The texts in question targeted voters in both Weld and Adams counties, local officials said. Freshman GOP Rep. Gabe Evans faces Democrat and former state lawmaker Manny Rutinel there in a race that independent political handicappers rate as a tossup.
America PAC has reported spending more than $228,000 on the race to benefit Evans.
Adams County’s election chief Josh Zygielbaum, a Democrat, said he received about a dozen calls from voters with questions about the texts. Although it’s hard for him to tell how many voters received the message, “that volume of phone calls is usually a good indicator for us that something’s a bigger issue because people generally don’t pick up the phone these days unless there’s a bigger concern,” he said.
Koppes, the top election official in neighboring Weld county, said she’s “had to have some clarifying conversations” with voters to allay their worries.
“It’s a typical, normal thing during the election that third-party groups try to get out the vote,” Koppes said she’s explained to voters. “But we don’t control them or whether they use the correct verbiage.”
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