Elon Musk is throwing money at a midterm state ballot measure that would overhaul its voting system, according to local reporting.
Musk has already put $1.5 million towards supporting a ballot measure in Alaska that would repeal the state's ranked-choice voting system, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Musk has already said he plans to spend $100 million across midterm states this year, raising alarms among critics.
Alaska's Ballot Measure 2 will appear on the state's November ballot. It would repeal not only ranked-choice voting but also open primaries and certain campaign finance laws as well. It would revert Alaska to a closed partisan primary and a pick-one general election.
"It's hard to even put into words the gratitude that we feel that these titans of industry would show interest in our small state," Judy Eledge, the chair of the group leading the campaign to overhaul Alaska's voting system, said in a statement.
According to a state report reviewed by the Anchorage Daily News, Musk donated to the Aurora Action Network, a Wisconsin-based political action committee trying to undo voting laws passed by Alaska voters in 2020.
The Aurora Action Network has also taken donations from billionaire megadonors such as Dick Uihlein, Jeff Yass, Timothy Mellon, and Jeffery Hildebrand, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The $1.5 million from Musk makes up a "sizable" share of the repeal campaign's fundraising so far and "could prove pivotal for the future of Alaska's elections," The Daily News warned. A group opposing the ballot measure has the cash advantage, however.
The campaign finance laws targeted by Ballot Measure 2 allow Alaska voters to know when megadonors like Musk give money to campaigns in their state, The Daily News reported.
Alaska is a state where Democrats are hoping to gain a Senate seat in the upcoming midterms, as they're trying to beat Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK). Sen. Lisa Murkowski has also been known to break ranks with the GOP and against Trump.
