Elon Musk on Tuesday (November 4) alleged irregularities in New York City’s election ballot, calling it a “scam” and questioning the city’s voting process.
“The New York City ballot form is a scam!” Musk wrote on X, adding:
Other mayoral candidates appear twice
Cuomo’s name is last in bottom right.”
His post quickly went viral, drawing both criticism and clarification from users who accused him of spreading misinformation about the city’s election laws and ballot format.
Conservative Group Founder responds
The founder of “Loud Majority,” a conservative Republican community and media group, responded by explaining that multiple appearances of a candidate’s name on a ballot were normal under New York’s election system.
“Elon…. Being on the ballot twice is normal, it goes by party endorsement,” the user wrote.
“If the conservatives had endorsed Sliwa like normally when they endorse the Republican, he would have been on there 3 times. This is normal.”
Users point out party endorsements
Another user, posting under the name “Trump Tracker,” clarified that certain candidates appear multiple times because they are endorsed by more than one party.
“Zohran appears twice because he won the primary for two parties,” the user explained. “Cuomo appears once towards the bottom because he did not win any primary. In fact, he lost.”
Fact-check from Tangle News founder
Isaac Saul, founder of @tanglenews, issued one of the most detailed rebuttals, labeling Musk’s claims “nonsense.”
“1. NYC doesn’t have voter ID laws.
2. In New York, multiple parties can endorse the same candidate, so some can appear multiple times. Sliwa, the Republican, is also listed twice!
3. Eric Adams is on the ballot because he dropped out too late.
4. Cuomo lost the primary, and ran as an indy, and ballots list major party candidates first.”
Saul added: “Maybe you don’t like the rules. Fine. But posting this stuff on X with zero context makes people think there is fraud or cheating. These are just the rules being applied to candidates evenly.”
Other users explain ballot placement
Another X user expressed confusion about the ballot’s layout, noting: “OMG Cuomo is not even listed on the top row! He is under letter ‘I’? Where the heck is letter ‘H’?”
Others stepped in to clarify further.
“- Mamdani and Sliwa are the nominees of more than one party which is why their names appear several times. – Cuomo lost a primary and entered the general election late, it’s fair and it makes sense his name would appear last,” one user wrote.
Calls to avoid misinformation
Several users urged Musk to avoid spreading misleading claims about election procedures.
“Bro I like you, but please don’t spread misinformation about stuff you don’t know about,” one user commented. “There is a reason why names show up twice… there is no scam. Also, a lot of times independents show up last—it’s just how the two-party system works in this country.”
The user conceded Musk’s point about voter ID laws, saying, “I have no defense for the ID part… so you can go ahead and attach that.”