Arizona Elections Official Completely Dismantles Election Conspiracy Promoted by Elon Musk
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
An Arizona elections official targeted Elon Musk over a post suggesting a giant election conspiracy ahead of November’s election.
“Extremely concerning,” Musk posted this week on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a tweet from an account called End Wokeness. The post declared that the number people registering without an I.D. is “skyrocketing” in swing states such as Arizona, Texas, and Pennsylvania.
“The number of voters registering without a photo ID is SKYROCKETING in 3 key swing states: Arizona, Texas, and Pennsylvania,” the account wrote. “Since the start of 2024: TX: 1,250,710 PA: 580,513 AZ: 220,731.”
Musk’s seeming endorsement of the message was given an eight point fact check by Stephen Richer, an election official in Arizona who previously sued Kari Lake.
“Hi Elon! The post you’re quote-tweeting seems to suggest that, based on Social Security Administration data, 220,731 illegal immigrants have registered to vote in Arizona since January 1, 2024,” Richer wrote, then breaking down why this large figure is not true.
According to Richer, an elected Republican, less than 40,000 people have registered to vote in Maricopa County, and voter rolls have seen a decrease from 2020 to 2024.
Confirming citizenship for voters is done through the Motor Vehicle Divisions, but Richer also broke down a “Federal Only” list for people whose citizenship cannot be explained.
“If the voter cannot provide documented proof of citizenship, but still attests under penalty of law that he is a citizen, he goes on what is called the ‘Federal Only’ list in Arizona,” the elections official wrote. “In Maricopa County, there are 20,768 registered voters on the Federal Only list. There are about 30,000 for all of Arizona. Again, these people attest that they are U.S. Citizens, but they have not provided documented proof.”
According to Richer, most of these particular voters are “disproportionately college-aged students (perhaps who don’t have ready access to a birth certificate).”
He told Musk there is no proof that nearly a quarter of a million illegal immigrants registered to vote in Arizona.
“Hope this helps,” Richer wrote to Musk. “We loved the recent rocket launch that we could see in the Arizona sky. Thanks for all the cool sciencey stuff you continue to do.”
