Elon Musk has begun the New Year sharing baseless and misleading stories about voter fraud, voter ID, and electoral law.
The Tesla CEO, who is set to head President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), made the unsubstantiated claim this week that the Democratic Party was opposing voter ID “so that they can commit voting fraud and not get caught. It’s that simple.” The claim, posted on X, formerly Twitter, was viewed 5.2 million times as of January 3.
Musk engaged with comments from political commentator Jonathan Turley, who said that “California Democrats” were moving to “block voter identification laws.”
Newsweek reached out to press representatives for X and Donald Trump via email for comment.
Turley had highlighted recent efforts by some cities in California to pass voter identification laws at the polls. In September, California Governor Gavin Newsom barred local governments from requiring voters to present ID at the polls. The state already did not require voter ID to be presented.
Elon Musk at a campaign rally for President-elect Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5, 2024. Musk spread a baseless voter fraud conspiracy on X this week.
Elon Musk at a campaign rally for President-elect Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5, 2024. Musk spread a baseless voter fraud conspiracy on X this week.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The new law, authored by state Senator Dave Min, the legislation was passed by the California Assembly and Senate in 2024. Min, a Democrat running for Congress, introduced the bill so local governments could not impose their own voter ID rules, which he said disproportionately affect low-income, elderly and minority voters.
California is one of 14 states that do not require voter ID for elections.
Huntington Beach, led by a Republican city council, has defended its voter ID law, saying its status as a charter city gives it authority over local elections.
While California has prohibited cities within the state from introducing voter ID laws, exceptions exist for first-time voters or those who registered without providing ID. In California, voters may be asked to show ID if they registered by mail without submitting a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
“In this case, be sure to bring identification with you to your polling place or include a copy of it with your vote-by-mail ballot,” a guide from the California secretary of state says.
“A copy of a recent utility bill, the sample ballot booklet you received from your county elections office or another document sent to you by a government agency are examples of acceptable forms of identification.
“Other acceptable forms of identification include your passport, driver license, official state identification card, or student identification card showing your name and photograph.”
The baseless claim that Musk made that the voter ID issue is part of a Democratic-led conspiracy feeds into ongoing and misleading narratives about the use of ID at the polls.
As Newsweek’s Fact Check team debunked after the 2024 election, multiple false claims appeared on social media that said Vice President Kamala Harris only won in states where voter ID was not required.
All states require some form of identification to vote. Thirty-five require identification in some form, while the remaining 15 have “nondocumentary” requirements, such as signing an affidavit. Harris won in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, where photo ID is required.
Donald Trump has pledged to make changes to the U.S. electoral system, announcing in December: “We’re gonna do things that have been really needed for a long time,” he said. “And we are gonna look at elections. We want to have paper ballots, one day voting, voter ID, and proof of citizenship.”
Elon Musk Spreads Baseless Voter Fraud Conspiracy
