MaxVote is a left-of-center super PAC that engages in get-out-the-vote (GOTV) activities. The organization is notable for being the subject, along with its partner AllVote, of reporting related to its funding from Elias Law Group-associated entities, as well as text message campaigns during the lead-up to the 2024 United States presidential election that included inaccurate information about polling locations and voter registration. 1
Background
MaxVote is a left-of-center political action committee launched in 2024. According to its website, the organization supports public awareness campaigns that communicate information about polling locations as well as advocacy efforts aimed at making voting in the U.S. easier. 2 3
The organization claims to use publicly available information from Secretaries of State throughout the U.S. to identify polling locations, as well as Google’s Street View program to source images of those locations, which are manually reviewed for accuracy. 4
Funding
MaxVote, along with AllVote, VoteWin, and the Coconut Brat PAC, were funded by a collective $616,000 in donations from Voters of These 50 States of America, an aligned super PAC formed in August 2024, which was in turn funded by a $2 million donation from Evidence for Impact, a group formed by Ezra Reese, the political law chair of the Elias Law Group, the law firm of Marc Elias, an American attorney who previously worked as the general counsel for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, general counsel for John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, and head of the political law practice at Perkins Coie LLP. 5 6 1 3
Activity
Prior to the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, MaxVote and its partner organization AllVote, as well as the other organizations funded by Elias Law Group-associated entities, were the subject of news coverage related to text messages sent to voters containing inaccurate information about polling places and voter registration data, which resulted in warnings and criticisms from state election agencies and groups. 1
According to a report published in December 2024 by the right-of-center Washington Free Beacon, the text messages in question were sent to tens of thousands of registered voters by Movement Labs (formerly “Resistance Labs”), a left-of-center nonprofit technology firm that uses peer-to-peer texting to promote aligned activist organizations and political candidates. To that end, the report also noted that Movement Labs was the sole recipient of the funds originally donated to MaxVote by Voters of These 50 States of America. 1
As of January 20, 2025, MaxVote’s website displays a pop-up on its homepage asking visitors to the website to inform the organization if they received text messages containing inaccurate polling place information as well as offering instructions on how to opt out of receiving the organization’s text messages. 3
AllVote
On its website, MaxVote, characterizes AllVote, one of the other groups solely funded by Voters of These 50 States of America, as a “Partner.” Like Maxvote, AllVote was one of the subjects of media reporting related to funding received from Elias Law Group-associated entities as well as text message campaigns that included inaccurate information about polling data and voter registration. 1
References
- Ross, Chuck. “Marc Elias’s Law Firm Linked to Network of Dem Super PACs Behind Deceptive Text Message Operation.” Washington Free Beacon. December 12, 2024. Accessed January 20, 2025. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/marc-eliass-law-firm-linked-to-network-of-dem-super-pacs-behind-deceptive-text-message-operation/
- “Maxvote PAC Outside Spending.” OpenSecrets. Accessed January 20, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail?cmte=C00890368&cycle=2024
- Homepage. MaxVote. Accessed January 20, 2025. https://www.maxvote.org/
- “Our Data.” MaxVote. Accessed January 20, 2025. https://www.maxvote.org/our-data
- Opfer, Chris. “Democrat Elections Lawyer Elias Leaves Perkins Coie, Starts Firm.” Bloomberg Law. August 23, 2021. Accessed January 20, 2025. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/democrat-elections-lawyer-elias-leaves-perkins-coie-starts-firm
- “MARC ELIAS – general counsel for Hillary Clinton.” Chambers | Associate. Accessed January 20, 2025. https://www.chambers-associate.com/the-big-interview/marc-elias-general-counsel-for-hillary-clinton