Viral post alleging to show a noncitizen's presidential election ballot is fake

Voter ID requirements have been a hot topic leading up to the 2024 election, stirring debate over election security.

In an Oct. 28 X post, @wizardofsoho claimed they are a Canadian citizen who was able to vote in the 2024 presidential election without identification. The post includes a photo of a ballot marked for Donald Trump. The post has been viewed over 13 million times. 

“I am a Canadian but USA doesn’t require voter Id so figured I would drive across the border and vote,” the post says.  Another viral Oct. 28 post with what appears to be the same ballot photo reads “Came on holiday to the US and they didn’t require voter ID so just voted on a bunch of ballots.” VERIFY found other X posts with the same or nearly identical text that include the same ballot photo.

THE QUESTION

Are the viral posts claiming to be from a noncitizen who voted in the U.S. election legitimate?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

No, the viral posts claiming to be from noncitizens who voted in the U.S. election aren’t legitimate. The ballot featured in the posts is real but it belongs to a registered U.S. voter.

WHAT WE FOUND

VERIFY analyzed the viral image of the ballot and spoke with the voter who cast the ballot to confirm that while the ballot is real, the claims about fraudulent voting are not.  

We traced the ballot photo’s earliest online appearance to this Oct. 13 X post from Ashley Munoz, a U.S. citizen and registered voter in Osceola County, Florida, whose handle is @RedLady2024. Munoz took to social media several times to acknowledge the photo is hers.

Munoz told VERIFY she took the photo on Sept. 28 and provided the original file and timestamped screenshots. Munoz currently lives in North Carolina with her husband who is a Marine and is stationed there. Munoz said the ballot featured in the posts is her Florida absentee ballot.

“It’s disappointing that others are using it for nefarious reasons and claiming it’s their own,” Munoz said of the ballot photo. “And beyond that, they’re getting lots of clicks/likes that equal big monetary payouts for them on X.” 

VERIFY confirmed the names on Munoz’s ballot, including Clerk of Court candidate Jossue Lorenzo, match those on Osceola County ballots. Libertarian Chase Oliver and Socialist Claudia De La Cruz, who aren’t on the ballot in all 50 states, are on Florida’s ballot.

The X user who spread the viral claim, @WizardofSoho, appeared to acknowledge the post was fake on Oct. 29 in a separate thread about it going viral. A user said, “do they know that 99.9% from your content is fake?” @WizardofSoho responded, “Lfmao they don’t know.” 

One of the most common ways to prevent undocumented people from voting in federal elections is by requiring an ID, such as a driver’s license, at the polls. While some states allow undocumented people to obtain driver’s licenses or state IDs, election officials in these states have other measures in place to prevent them from actually voting.

This includes using systems that do not allow people with noncitizen IDs to register, regular checks of voter rolls and laws that allow voters to challenge the eligibility of other voters.