Elon Musk’s America PAC Canvassers Faced Surveillance, Sickness, and Late Pay in Arizona

Paid door knockers for Elon Musk’s get-out-the-vote effort in Arizona allege to WIRED that they’ve had to work through illness and have struggled to get paid on time or in the full amount promised under onerous quotas.

Five people who shared their experiences working under the umbrella of the billionaire’s canvassing operation in the state—four through a group that has received donations from Musk and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, and one with a subcontractor for Musk’s America PAC—claim they were subjected to poor working conditions. These include, they allege, practically impossible-to-meet quotas akin to the ones first reported by WIRED in a story about the treatment of paid canvassers brought into Michigan for the same work.

While the Michigan workers had to contend with being driven around in seatless U-Haul vans—Blitz Canvassing, the America PAC vendor involved, later told WIRED its subcontractors “never should have driven their canvassers in a U-Haul van”—the Arizona workers make distinct allegations. These include pressure to work through sickness in the desert heat and what one canvasser describes as a hyper-surveillance culture.

“I felt like it was 1984, you know what I mean?” a door knocker who was flown in from out of state and contracted by Liberty Staffing Services to drop literature for America PAC tells WIRED, requesting anonymity because they signed a nondisclosure agreement. “I felt like Big Brother was always watching me.”

The newly shared allegations paint a grim picture of what it’s like to work for the various sub-organizations involved in Republican voter turnout efforts, which have been largely outsourced to Musk’s network. Arizona, like Michigan, has been one of the seven key battleground states targeted by both presidential campaigns and is expected to be decided on thin margins.

Even the big brothers within the organization had to put up with subpar conditions.

One team lead—who says their job involves making sure the canvassers “behave at the hotel”—describes catching the flu last week and, allegedly, still being forced to drive everyone around to their respective routes. They also claim they were underpaid and that they were informed by a manager on Monday, November 4, that they would not be getting paid on time.

“My Halloween was ruined, and I caught the flu,” they added.

Late payments seem to be a recurring theme with Musk-backed door knockers. One Michigan canvasser was paid only after WIRED reached out to their manager and to America PAC for comment. The former Arizona door knocker with Liberty Staffing Services—which, along with America PAC, is a codefendant in a class action suit alleging violations of California labor law first reported by WIRED—shared screenshots showing that they made complaints about repeated late payments before they eventually quit. The same Arizona canvasser also took out payday loans to make ends meet in between payments, according to a bank statement reviewed by WIRED.

Original Author: Makena Kelly, Jake Lahut | Source: Wired