Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X, criticized the legitimacy of New York City’s election system as voters prepared to head to the polls.
Musk shared a photograph of New York City’s ballot on Nov. 4, Election Day. “The New York City ballot form is a scam! No ID is required. Other mayoral candidates appear twice. (Andrew) Cuomo’s name is last in bottom right,” wrote Musk, who supports Cuomo over Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. Other X users made similar points in other posts…
Any votes for a candidate, regardless of the party line the vote is cast under, counts toward that candidate’s total. “Although candidates may appear on more than one party’s line, voters can only vote for them once,” said Julia Sass Rubin, a Rutgers University public policy professor.
So why would voters support a prominent candidate on a minor-party line?
They might want to send a message about the importance of that party’s positions. They also might want to ensure that the smaller party continues to win enough votes to secure a ballot spot in future elections.