NBC News Busts Elon Musk For Calling Mail Voting ‘Insane’ — Despite Doing It Himself Repeatedly

AP Photo/John Raoux, File

Elon Musk called voting by mail “insane” in a post on Twitter/X, which he owns. He elaborated in a comment to NBC News, calling voting by mail “an invitation to fraud.” But that comment came in response to NBC News finding out that Musk, himself, has previously voted by mail. Twice.

In a story published by NBC News tech reporter David Ingram on Friday, Musk’s own voting history while he was a resident of California revealed that while he rarely voted, he chose to vote by mail when he did:

Musk voted by mail in November 2016, the year [former President] Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton , and in the November 2018 midterm election, the records show. Musk’s primary residence was in Los Angeles at the time.

The state records show that Musk had a sparse history of voting in California. During the 18 years he was eligible to vote there, he cast ballots in only those two elections. He became eligible to vote when he became a U.S. citizen in 2002 and cast his first ballot 14 years later, at age 45. He was actively registered to vote by August 2006, the records show.

NBC News asked Musk for a comment about his record of voting by mail, and he did not provide a direct answer in his response, which was provided by email: “Voting by mail has been recognized as an invitation to fraud throughout the world.”

Musk has been vocal about his criticisms of voting by mail and other unsupported claims of voter fraud or election interference , mostly citing misinformation supported by the right that mail-in voting is fraudulent. Trump, whom Musk endorsed after July’s assassination attempt, repeatedly claimed that mail voting was behind election fraud, especially after he lost the 2020 election. He has since changed his position , and as of April, supports mail voting. (Though just this month, he called it into doubt again over Colorado’s use of mail voting.)