Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

GOP Elections Official Fires Back At Elon Musk After He Shares False Voter Registration Claim

Stephen Richer; Elon Musk
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Saul Martinez/Getty Images

After Elon Musk shared 'extremely concerning' and extremely false voter registration information, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, fired back with facts.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican official, shut down billionaire Elon Musk on X after he made a false voter registration claim, countering Musk's lies with necessary facts.

Earlier, Musk said it was "extremely concerning" that the "number of voters registering without a photo ID is SKYROCKETING in 3 key swing states," as claimed by the far-right X account End Wokeness.


The account claimed that the states in question—Arizona, Texas, and Pennsylvania—have allowed millions of people to register without photo identification and linked to data from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to bolster its point.

You can see Musk's post below.

Musk's post quickly caught Richer's attention—so he engaged in a quick fact-check thanks to having "easy access to Maricopa County's data -- which makes up 62% of Arizona."

He swiftly called out Musk with the following remarks:

"Only 39,653 new voters have registered in Maricopa County in 2024 in total. For Arizona, that number is about 60,000."
"Arizona's voter rolls have actually been going down. In Maricopa County, we've gone from about 2.6 million active registered voters in 2020 to about 2.4 million active registered voters in 2024."
"SSA is not used to check citizenship. It's used to check proof of identity."
"Motor Vehicle Divisions are typically used for proof of citizenship. In Arizona, since October 1, 1996, drivers have had to provide proof of citizenship for driver's licenses (except Type F). We use this data to confirm citizenship for the vast majority of registration applicants. We also have some other tools at our disposal, or we communicate directly with the voter to get documentation."

Richer pointed out that if a prospective 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." He noted "there are 20,768 registered voters on the Federal Only list" in Maricopa County and that there are only "30,000 for all of Arizona."

Richer stressed that "these people attest that they are U.S. Citizens, but they have not provided documented proof." Additionally, the majority of studies "show that these people are disproportionately college-aged students (perhaps who don't have ready access to a birth certificate)."

He concluded:

"But there is 0 validity to the suggestion in the original post that 220,731 illegal immigrants have registered in Arizona in 2024. Hope this helps."
"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."

You can see his post below.

Richer's response was exactly the fact-based retort that Musk needed—and many joined Richer in calling him out.



Richer has taken a very vocal stance against voting misinformation.

Last month, Richer defended the mail-in voting process in Arizona after voter Aubrey Savela, who identifies as a field representative for the right-wing nonprofit Turning Point Action posted a photo of two mail-in ballots and early voting packets on X and tried to put the county on blast for sending her two ballots for the upcoming primaries.

Savela said the supposed error is a sign of "Maricopa County at its finest"—alleging election fraud, supposedly enabling people to vote twice. Richer was quick to respond to Savela's insinuations about potential irregularities in the voting system.

He clarified that the mailing of early ballots was based on the information available in the voter registration system, and in this case, Savela had recently updated her address.

Shortly afterward, an X Community Note appeared under Savela's post, noting that her claim was misleading.

More from People/elon-musk

Woman listening to her boyfriend play guitar
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Things People Initially Found Attractive About Their Partner That Now Annoy Them

Being in a relationship can be wonderful, but it's not without its ups and downs.

In order for it to work, we have to allow it to grow and change over time rather than being locked forever into what it was when we first started dating our person.

Keep ReadingShow less
JD Vance
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

JD Vance Gets Perfectly Shamed After Claiming Medicaid Cuts In Budget Bill Are 'Immaterial'

Critics slammed Vice President JD Vance after he claimed that the "minutiae of the Medicaid policy" in President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," are "immaterial" to the millions of Americans who would lose their healthcare coverage if it were to become law.

According to The Washington Post, the bill "includes the biggest reduction of funding for the federal safety net since at least the 1990s, targeting more than $1 trillion in social spending." WaPo noted that the $3 trillion package "partially pays for its large price tag by slashing spending on Medicaid and food stamps SNAP), which congressional Republicans maintain are rife with fraud."

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Ian McKellen
Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images

Ian McKellen Moved To Tears After Massive Glastonbury Crowd Starts Chanting His Name

Acting icon Sir Ian McKellen was moved to tears after joining the Scissor Sisters on stage at this year's Glastonbury Music Festival and standing before a crowd that showed their love by chanting his name.

The openly gay actor—best known to legions of fans around the world for his performances as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Magneto in the live-action X-Men films—made a surprise appearance on the Woodsies stage for Saturday’s headline set.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Trump Just Unveiled His Expensive New Line Of Fragrances—And The Bottle Is Peak Trump

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after he took to Truth Social to announce his latest narcissistic venture: a new line of Trump Fragrances for men and women called "Victory 45-47" that comes in a bottle shaped like a small gold statue of himself.

The Victory 45-47 fragrances are priced at $249 for a 100ml bottle, with a $50 discount on each when buying two or more. The women’s perfume is marketed as “a sophisticated, subtly feminine scent that’s your go-to signature for any occasion,” while the men’s cologne is described as offering “rich, masculine notes with a refined, lasting finish.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Alicia Hannah-Kim; Martin Kove
@thealiciahannah/Instagram; Maya Dehlin Spach/FilmMagic/Getty Images

'Cobra Kai' Star Opens Up About Bizarre Biting Incident By Costar In New Video

Back in June, Cobra Kai star Martin Kove was kicked out of a fan convention after reportedly biting costar Alicia Hannah-Kim on the arm.

Having just arrived at the convention, Hannah-Kim approached Kove from behind and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. In response, he grabbed her arm and bit her in the bicep almost hard enough to "draw blood," then took her arm again and kissed the place where he bit her.

Keep ReadingShow less