When Elon Musk tweets, the internet catches up, at least to troll him. This week, the Tesla and X (formerly Twitter) CEO found himself at the center of another firestorm after calling New York City’s mayoral ballot a “scam.” Musk endorsed Andrew Cuomo and was mad that his preferred candidate appeared only once while others, like (now-mayor) Zohran Mamdani, showed up twice.
Musk wrote to his over 228 million followers on November 4:
“The New York City ballot form is a scam. No ID required. Other mayoral candidates appear twice. Cuomo’s name is last in [the] bottom right.”
The post went viral and brought in fact-checks and memes. The controversy unfolded amid a mayoral race featuring Mamdani, Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa. But the real culprit was fusion voting, a New York electoral peculiarity that Elon Musk seemingly hadn’t seen before.
Fusion voting is a long-standing practice in New York. It allows multiple parties to endorse a candidate, so they can appear on the ballot more than once, once for each party that supports them. Playing by those rules, Zohran Mamdani appeared twice, under the Democratic and Working Families Party lines. Curtis Sliwa showed up under the Republican and “Protect Animals” banners. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, appeared only once under the “Fight and Deliver” party.
The New York City ballot form is a scam!
– No ID is required
– Other mayoral candidates appear twice
– Cuomo’s name is last in bottom right pic.twitter.com/676VODWFRI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2025
As The New York Times explained, this is a standard New York law. Kathleen McGrath from the State Board of Elections confirmed that independent candidates get one slot, while those endorsed by multiple parties get multiple lines. Fusion voting was designed to give more negligible parties influence. Supporters say it lets voters express their loyalty to another party’s stance. Critics argue it can confuse voters who aren’t as aware, especially when major candidates appear multiple times, though.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s post on X sparked a storm of ridicule. Journalist Isaac Saul responded: “Nonsense (…) Posting this with zero context makes people think there’s fraud (…) These are the rules being applied to candidates evenly.” Etan Nechin spelled it out: “Zohran appears twice because he’s on both lines as Democratic and Working Families. [Cuomo] (…) is on no major-party label, so he’s last.”
One user mocked:
“Tell me you’ve never voted before without telling me you’ve never voted before.”
Every part of Elon Musk’s claim came under scrutiny. New York doesn’t require voter ID, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. Voters sign ballots, which are verified against registration records. Candidates can appear multiple times if endorsed by more than one party. And the ballot order is decided by party status. Experts like McGrath emphasized that the rules were applied “evenly and legally.”
By the end of the day, Elon Musk stumbled into democracy!
NEXT UP: Elon Musk ‘Sinks Low’ — Misspells Indian-Origin Zohran Mamdani’s Name in His Post
