Abolish the Electoral College PAC (AEC)

Critics of the Abolish the Electoral College PAC have called it a “scam PAC,” a reference to a group that solicits contributions while promising to support candidates but discloses little to no support for candidates while continuously fundraising. According to a report in Sludge, scam PAC fundraising “predominantly funds personal compensation for the committees’ organizers.” ³

Background

Abolish the Electoral College PAC, also known simply as Abolish the Electoral College, is a left-of-center political action committee that provides support to election candidates and organizations that aim to change the Electoral College voting system for presidential elections. ²

Abolish the Electoral College PAC claims on its website that there is an “unprecedented rise of voter suppression” across the country, as well as “election subversion efforts.” The organization also claims the Electoral College is an “antiquated and unjust” system of voting. ² The PAC supports the adoption of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), a scheme to elect the president by a nationwide plurality vote without a constitutional amendment. ¹

Under the compact, states award their electors to the plurality winner of the national popular vote regardless of who wins their state; state governments would have at least some control over how they wish to choose their electors. As of spring 2019, 14 states and the District of Columbia had joined the compact for a total of 189 electoral votes. However, the compact would not take effect until enough states joined to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. ⁴

Abolish the Electoral College PAC supports candidates at all levels of government, but particularly candidates and elected officials in state legislative bodies that support the NPVIC. The PAC also states that it will support candidates and elected officials who support “progressive voting rights” while also fighting the alleged “onslaught of voter suppression and electoral subversion efforts.” ¹

Abolish the Electoral College PAC also supports left-of-center voting legislation such as the Freedom to Vote Act, which, if passed, would require all 50 states to offer early voting, a national standard allowing no-excuse votes by mail, and allowing more forms of identification for in-person voting in states that require identification. The Act would also make automatic voter registration the national standard, would require states to offer same-day voter registration and online voter registration, and would restore voting rights to convicts upon their release. ⁵

AEC also states that it supports the elimination of voter identification laws. ¹

Political Emails

Abolish the Electoral College has sent its supporters various emails since its inception. One email sent to supporters claimed that Elon Musk and the GOP wanted to win races to “shape the nation for their fascist agenda.” The group claimed in another email that the Electoral College “heavily” places Democratic Party candidates at a disadvantage during presidential elections. ^{6 7}

AEC also created an email poll in May 2025 asking whether President Donald Trump should be impeached. AEC claimed in the email that President Trump had an “illegal and fascist agenda.” In another email sent in May 2025, AEC promoted the No Kings Act, which would permanently abolish presidential immunity. ^{8 9}

Scam Accusations

Critics of the Abolish the Electoral College PAC have called it a scam PAC. ³ Sludge is a left-of-center online investigative journalism outlet that attempts to expose special interest spending in politics, particularly targeting entities that oppose left-of-center environmentalist, defense, and social policies. ¹⁰

Sludge published an article, written in October 2021 by its co-founder, Donald Shaw, titled “Scam PAC Exploites Electoral College Opponents” targeting Abolish the Electoral College PAC. Shaw notes that AEC received $980,000 from small individual donors. The top occupations of said donors were listed as “retired” or “not employed.” ³

The article stated that hardly any of AEC’s expenses went to election candidates, as AEC made just $2,500 in Federal Election Commission-reportable campaign contributions, which amounted to “0.28% of the group’s total disbursements.” ³

According to the article, Rory Steele, then-Vice President Kamala Harris’s former campaign manager, was the leader of the PAC at the time of publication. Steele received $83,000 in salary from AEC, and another $119,000 was spent on unspecified payroll. ³

AEC spent more than $450,000 with SKDKnickerbocker, a political consulting and public affairs company whose clients include prominent Democratic Party politicians, particularly in New York. AEC also spent over $113,000 on Facebook advertisements to persuade people to support a petition calling for the abolition of the Electoral College. ³

Shaw alleged in the article that AEC appears to be a “scam PAC,” a group that solicits contributions while promising to support candidates but discloses little to no support for said candidates while continuously fundraising. The fundraising then “predominantly funds personal compensation for the committees’ organizers.” ³

Financials

Abolish the Electoral College PAC raised a total of $777,310 in the 2024 election cycle and spent a total of $773,399. ¹¹

AEC’s total amount of contributions to federal candidates in the 2024 election cycle amounted to $7,500, split between three Democratic Party candidates. AEC also contributed $25,000 to the State Democracy Defenders PAC and $16,000 to For the Majority PAC. ^{12 13}

AEC spent $174,980 on administrative expenditures, $162,157 on media expenses, $102,033 on “unclassifiable” expenses, and $48,650 on campaign expenses. ¹⁴