Elon Musk has become one of the most influential voices in the upcoming presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Now, the billionaire is setting into motion a plan that he hopes might help former President Trump win undecided voters in swing states. Many analysts say this is the key to victory.
The plan is simple. Elon Musk helped form a political action committee called America PAC (political action committee) in May 2024. The committee is now paying canvassers to sway undecided voters in swing states, such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, into voting for the former President in the upcoming election.
The app used by canvassers for Trump is glitching, inhibiting Elon Musk’s plan
Many canvassers who have begun executing Musk’s plan have found it hard to do so because the app that tells them where to go kept glitching.
There have been reports by some canvassers indicating they have been directed to houses with lawn signs endorsing Vice President Harris.
Musk’s America PAC is aiming to gain 800,000 voters in swing states for former President Trump. However, it’s unclear whether or not the committee will able to do so, as the campaign’s Sidekick app, which is what the canvassers actually use on a daily basis, has many technical limitations.
For instance, major media outlets have reported that the app requires enough internet speed to stream 4K video. This has proven extremely challenging for canvassers that cover more rural routes, where the mobile data infrastructure simply does not allow the required internet speeds.
These difficulties have forced the PAC to use offline walk-books to guarantee the canvassers are completing their routes, but this has raised other problems for the PAC’s efforts.
The walk-books do not have geolocation and don’t always upload to the servers in the correct way, which makes it impossible to track the canvassing efforts in rural areas.
These canvassing issues might have a negative impact on Donald Trump’s campaign
The issues canvassers have encountered in rural areas might have some real electoral implications for former President Trump. In 2016, 61 percent of voters in rural areas voted for Donald Trump, particularly in the Midwest and in southern states. In 2020, 65 percent of rural voters also voted for Trump.
This overwhelming support in rural areas in the last elections is unlikely to change, as his popularity in such regions has had more to do with his stance on topics such as agriculture and economic policies.
Additionally, Chris LaCivita, who is Trump’s co-campaign chief, denied they were having any issues with canvassing, saying, “Our canvassing apps work fine, and we’ve invested in new technology this cycle that is unmatched in politics to supplement our efforts.”
