According to the records, Musk cast a mail-in ballot in both the midterm election in November 2018 and the presidential election in November 2016, when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. At the time, Los Angeles was Musk's primary residence.
According to state records, Musk had very little voting history in California. During the 18 years he was qualified to cast a ballot there, he cast polling forms in just those two races. When he became a citizen of the United States in 2002, he became eligible to vote, and at the age of 45, he cast his first ballot. According to the records, he was actively registered to vote by August 2006.
All primary elections, all local elections, and presidential races in which Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, and John McCain were on the ballot were among the ones Musk skipped. All registered voters in California are permitted to take part in the open primary system.
Musk's California voting records have never been made public before this. Through a public records request to the California Secretary of State's office, NBC News obtained the history. The request for Musk's voter file was initially turned down by the office, which claimed that it does not maintain records of canceled registrations. It changed its mind later.
According to his voter file, Musk canceled his registration in the state in August 2020. He declared at a gathering in December 2020 that he had moved to Texas.
NBC News inquired about Musk's voting history and previous statements regarding mail-in ballots. He did not address his votes in an email but maintained his position regarding voter fraud.
He wrote, "Voting by mail has been recognized as an invitation to fraud worldwide."
As part of a larger pattern of posting misleading or false claims regarding election security, Musk has criticized postal voting at least four times this year on his social media app X, mixing his criticisms with falsehoods and partial truths about U.S. elections.
He wrote in January: You can mail in your ballot and vote in the United States without requiring government-issued identification. This is absurd.
However, that is incorrect. While state-specific requirements vary, applicants are typically required to provide a driver's license number, a state identification number, or a Social Security number on the standard voter registration form. Also, when people vote by mail, some states, like Texas, ask for the same information again. Some first-time voters in California must mail copies of their identification along with their ballots.
Musk falsely stated in May that widespread postal voting was "not allowed" before the COVID-19 pandemic: " The widespread use of postal voting, which was prohibited before the academic, makes it nearly impossible to prove fraud.
The majority of California voters chose to vote by mail both times Musk voted. According to state records, 65 percent of California voters cast their ballots by mail in the November 2018 election. The percentage was 58% in the election in November of 2016.
All registered voters in California now have access to mail-in ballots, which they can either mail back or hand deliver.
While the California secretary of state's office did not respond to Musk's criticism, it did provide details about the state's efforts to maintain the system's integrity. It stated that when people register, their ID numbers are compared to what is on file, and when they vote by mail, their signatures are examined. Under state law, voters must swear that they are eligible to vote or face perjury. The office also stated that, among other security measures, it captures the IP addresses used for all online voter registrations if multiple names are registered from the same device.
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the United States and examples of fraud involving mail-in or absentee ballots are extremely uncommon, according to numerous investigations and studies. Despite Musk's claim that voting by mail makes it nearly impossible to prove fraud, when they do occur, prosecutors have successfully brought cases against the perpetrators, including in a North Carolina fraud scheme that received a lot of attention.
America PAC, Musk's own Super PAC, has been encouraging voters in swing states to vote absentee using mail-in ballots. A mailer from America PAC that was distributed in Wisconsin contained a QR code linking to the organization's website and the text "Scan Here to Apply for Your Absentee BALLOT," according to NBC News. In Wisconsin, absentee ballots can be cast by mail, in person at a county clerk's office, or in person at a polling place.
The Daily Beast has reported that Musk cast an absentee ballot in 2020 after relocating to Texas. It's not clear if he sent the absentee ballot by mail. Additionally, Musk voted in a Texas election in June 2022 but did not participate in the November 2022 election, according to the website.
According to a report from Business Insider that cites court records, Musk was living in Austin as of December, even though he is registered to vote in Brownsville, Texas, where his company SpaceX operates.
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are frequently ranked as the world's wealthiest individual.
Musk isn't the only one who opposes and uses mail-in voting. Trump has done the same thing, including voting in Florida by mail in 2020. Over Vice President Kamala Harris, Musk has endorsed Trump's bid to return to the White House.
As part of their efforts to get more people to vote, Democrats have long been associated with postal voting. However, this year, some Republicans are embracing it as a strategy for increasing support for their party.
This year, Musk wrote on X, "I voted 100 percent Dem until a few years ago." State records do not reveal Musk's votes because ballots are kept secret.
He has stated that he supported President Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Musk, who described himself as an independent, was registered in California as having no party preference.
