Elon Musk Calls For Elimination of EVMs, Raises Concern Over Poll Rigging

Elon Musk has expressed concerns about the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), citing their potential vulnerabilities to hacking. His remarks have added to the growing debate over EVM security worldwide, particularly in light of the recent irregularities in Puerto Rico's primary elections.

These elections faced numerous issues linked to EVMs, but a paper trail enabled officials to identify and rectify vote tallies.

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"We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high," Musk posted on X.

Musk's comments were in response to Robert F Kennedy Jr, an independent hopeful for the 2024 US Elections, who advocates for a return to paper ballots to prevent electronic interference and ensure secure elections.

Kennedy wrote, "Puerto Rico's primary elections just experienced hundreds of voting irregularities related to electronic voting machines, according to the Associated Press. Luckily, there was a paper trail so the problem was identified and vote tallies corrected. What happens in jurisdictions where there is no paper trail?"

In contrast to the concerns in the United States, India presents a different scenario with its use of the third generation of EVMs, known as M3 EVMs, which are designed to be tamper-proof. These machines enter a 'Safety Mode' and become inoperable if tampering is detected. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is supported by a Technical Expert Committee (TEC) and a team of professors from three prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) who have been instrumental in the latest upgrades of these machines.

The Supreme Court of India addressed the issue of cross-verification of votes cast on EVMs through Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. It rejected petitions seeking 100 percent cross-verification and maintained the current practice of verifying five randomly selected EVMs per Assembly constituency.

Additionally, the court issued directives to the Election Commission to seal and secure symbol loading units and to store these sealed containers and EVMs for at least 45 days after results are declared.