Last weekend, Elon Musk took to the X platform to call attention to Michigan State’s bloated voter rolls. In the post, Musk said, “Michigan has more voters than eligible citizens!? Is that true @communitynotes?”
Gateway Pundit’s Patty McMurray reported on this claim by Musk over the weekend as well.
Elon Musk Blasts MI SOS Being Dishonest For Registering More Voters On Voter Rolls Than Eligible Voters: “Shame on you for blatantly lying to the public!”
Musk’s message resonated like a tuning fork in the ears of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who responded that afternoon with the following:
Let’s be clear: (Elon Musk) spreading dangerous disinformation.
Here are the facts:
There are no more voters than the citizens of Michigan. There are 7.2 million active registered voters and 7.9 million voting age citizens in our country.
Musk pushed for a confusing number that included 1.2 million inactive records scheduled to be removed under the law. Don’t feed trolls.
But now Benson has doubled down on the misinformation: the secretary joined Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC deadline in an attempt to (somehow) legitimize his argument to a larger audience.
Wallace began the segment by claiming that the “selfless job” of being a poll worker is now a “very dangerous job” because personalities like Elon Musk “deliberately lie and spread false information about his pet project” on X. Wallace claimed that Musk lied “about voters who are more registered than eligible in Michigan … not only is Elon Musk contributing to the erosion of the foundations of our democracy, he is putting real people in danger.”
Wallace then brought in Secretary Benson to “set the record straight,” but not before asking him about his dispute with Musk. Spoiler alert: he never “set the record straight” or even tried to offer any evidence… because Musk is right.
No, Benson came to what else Musk claims is spreading ‘mis- and disinformation’. Benson responded to the controversy:
“Yes, I find it strange and sad that people with such power and influence would use that power and influence not to teach people how to vote at this time, or how to just ask if you have. about election security, but instead attack officials election in a swing state that tries its best, like me, to make sure that everyone, no matter who they vote for, can have faith in the right way in our elections.
Wallace continued about whether Musk “asked” Benson about the facts because “(Benson’s) response was just about the facts.”
While misinformation is better for soundbites than the nuances of election law, everyone, regardless of who voted, deserves to have good faith in our elections. Get all the facts and information from https://t.co/Qh4ow0MLQ5
Thanks @NicolleDWallace and… pic.twitter.com/UOzRBpjMn9
— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) October 24, 2024
So this is the reality.
Musk is right. There is now 8,446,131 Michigan voters are registered according to the Michigan State Department’s own website.
According to US Census Bureau estimates on July 1, 2023, there are 10,037,261 Michigan residents. Of these, 21% are over 18 years old.
This means there are approx 7,929,000 voting age people live in Michigan. The US Census doesn’t track citizenship, despite President Trump’s efforts, so this doesn’t show the 7.929M eligible voters. The US Census estimates that 6.9% of Michiganders are “foreign born” (about 547k people) but does not mention their nationality.
Benson, who failed to provide “facts” on Wallace’s show, sent a response to Musk that there were 7.2 million. active registered voters. This number is mentioned on the State Department website under the “Registered Voters” total.
This means that 91% of Michigan voters of eligible voting age are registered to vote and active voters. again, this does not consider “foreign born” (6.9%) who are not eligible to vote (either illegal immigrants or here on some sort of visa).
Benson then confirmed that 1.2 million inactive records are scheduled to be deleted, but the State Department website states that 338,719 voters are scheduled to be canceled in 2025 and 256,710 are scheduled to be canceled in 2027 for a total of 595,429. This is not even half of the 1.2 million Benson claimed in response to Musk.
And both ‘cleansing’ will take place after the Presidential and mid-term elections, of course.
So what is the difference between “active” and “inactive” voters and what process does it take to become “active” again? Yes, an inactive voter, according to the State Department website, is a voter whose state:
“receive information that a voter may have moved (for example, when an election letter is returned as undeliverable, or when a voter surrenders a driver’s license in another state) and the voter does not respond to a cancellation notice” or “if the voter has no activity in the Qualified Voter File for six years.”
And how do people return to active status? Yes, they can respond to cancellation notices, which seems reasonable. But it can also be reactivated by applying for a ballot or simply just vote.
Former US Army officer Seth Keshel pointed out in his extensive research on Substack that Michigan has 83.5% of the total population currently registered to vote (active and inactive). By comparison, Pennsylvania has only 68.1% of the total registered population while Wisconsin has 58.5%.
Keshel highlights how passionate Roscommon County, MI is about voter registration. In fact, they have 100.28% of the total registered population! Maybe Roscommon Co has “automatic voter registration for live births” in addition to motor voter registration. The district registered 23,949 voters but the total population, including those under the age of 18, was only 23,863.
According to Keshel’s research, there is eight district with the above registration 95% Maybe even more about that four districts have in 75% of users. Again: Pennsylvania is at 68.1% and Wisconsin at 58.5%.
Keshel also referenced the registration numbers of three large counties that did not participate in motorcycle voter registration (see below): Pinal County, AZ (55.4%), Tarrant County, TX (58.1%) and Milwaukee County, WI (53.7 %).
Michigan is still a member of the ERIC registration system, which publishes in its own rules that member states cannot send citizenship information with voter information.
Let’s be clear: @elonmusk spreading dangerous disinformation.
Here are the facts:
There are no more voters than the citizens of Michigan. There are 7.2 million active registered voters and 7.9 million voting age citizens in our country.
Musk pushed misleading numbers that… https://t.co/hybJf8G9KH
— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) October 20, 2024