'Don't Trust Computers': Elon Musk Fans EVM Row Again, Backs Paper Ballots In US

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of X and Tesla, once again spoke in favour of paper ballots over machines in the upcoming US elections, claiming that he "doesn't trust computers". "My view: paper ballots, hand counted. I know a lot about computers, won't trust them," Musk, who is one of the mega donors for Trump campaign, said in a rally with Republican presidential nominee.Elaborating on why he wants EVMs away from elections, the technology billionaire said: “I am a technologist I know a lot about computers. The last thing I will do is trust is a computer program. It is just too easy to hack, to easy to add just one line [of code]; and it is difficult to hack paper ballots."Elon Musk vs ex-Union Minister over EVMsThis is not the first time Musk has raised concerns over the security of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). In June, the tech billionaire, in a post on X, had raised concerns about electronic voting machines, suggesting they should be eliminated due to the potential risk of being hacked by humans or AI, even if the risk is minimal. His comments were backed by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who has often questioned the line that EVMs are inviolable, characterised them as a "black box."At the time, BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar (then Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) labelled Musk's comments as a "huge sweeping generalisation" without basis. The entrepreneur-turned-politician also offered to give a tutorial to the SpaceX boss demonstrating the robustness of EVMs designed in India.

Elon Musk fans EVM row again, Backs paper ballots in US

'Should only do paper ballots, hand counted. Know a lot about computers, won't trust them. Computer programmes are too easy to hack': Elon Musk, Entrepreneur@aakaaanksha shares more details. pic.twitter.com/SkEkDrBRfU

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) October 19, 2024

"Electronic voting machines can be architected and built right as India has done. We wud be happy to run a tutorial Elon," he said.To this, Musk replied, "Anything can be hacked."ALSO READ: hOpposition parties in India have campaigning for paper ballots on several occassions in the past. Their campaign once agains grew stronger after the recent assembly elections in Haryana, which the BJP won with a comfortable majority. A week after the results, some poll experts have pointed to the mismatch in the ECI voting percentage data in 86 of the 90 Assembly seats in the state.A Democrat voter in the past, Musk has turned into one of the highest donors for Trump's campaign against Democrat nominee Kamala Harris, having pumped in around $75 million in three months, according to a report by America’s Federal Election Commission.Voting fraud is a contentious issue in the US, where regular computer platforms are used to build internet connected voting machines. However, Indian EVMs are custom designed, secure and isolated from any network or media, according to Chandrasekhar. "No connectivity, no Bluetooth. Wifi. Internet, that is there is no way in. Factory programmed controllers that cannot be reprogrammed,” Chandrasekhar has argued on X (formerly Twitter), the social medium owned by Musk.