Many posts have discussed myths and misinformation, including falsehoods about elections.
On X, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer responds to Elon Musk:
Hi Elon!
The post you're quote-tweeting seems to suggest that, based on Social Security Administration data, 220,731 illegal immigrants have registered to vote in Arizona since January 1, 2024.
A few things if I may be so bold (since I have easy access to Maricopa County's data -- which makes up 62% of Arizona):
1) Only 39,653 new voters have registered in Maricopa County in 2024 in total. For Arizona, that number is about 60,000.
2) 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.
3) SSA is not used to check citizenship. It's used to check proof of identity.
4) 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.
5) If the 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.
6) In Maricopa County, there are 20,768 registered voters on the Federal Only list. There are about 30,000 for all of Arizona.
7) Again, these people attest that they are U.S. Citizens, but they have not provided documented proof.
8) Most studies show that these people are disproportionately college-aged students (perhaps who don't have ready access to a birth certificate).
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.
Stephen
(owner of many, many Musk-related products, and former user of TBC "flamethrower")
