OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Starlink, used his platform this month to demand significant voting reform prior to the 2024 election.
“We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high,” Musk wrote in a tweet that generated a lot of agreement.
Musk was responding to a post from independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wrote of a recent problem with electronic voting machines in Puerto Rico.
“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,” said RFK Jr.’s post, which contained a link to the AP story.
“What happens in jurisdictions where there is no paper trail? US citizens need to know that every one of their votes were counted, and that their elections cannot be hacked. We need to return to paper ballots to avoid electronic interference with elections. My administration will require paper ballots, and we will guarantee honest and fair elections,” the Independent presidential contender added.
Former President Donald Trump and his legal team were highly suspicious of electronic voting machines following his 2020 election loss. The team filed a number of lawsuits in various federal and state courts, making several allegations, but ultimately, the cases were unsuccessful. Others charged that voting rules changed by secretaries of state in battleground states, as well as governors, were unconstitutional because they were not changed by the respective state legislatures.
Democrats discounted all of Trump’s concerns about electronic voting. However, the X account KanekoaTheGreat posted a 20-minute supercut of Democrats who repeatedly made the following claims about electronic voting machines over the years:
Spread of Malware: If a county election management system is infected with malware, it can spread to USB drives, which then transfer it to voting machines, scanners, and ballot-marking devices throughout the county.
Programming Practices: Most U.S. election systems are programmed by local county officials or third-party vendors. They use previously used USB drives on internet-connected computers before plugging them into scanners, tabulators, and voting machines.
Outdated Systems: In 2019, the Associated Press reported that most of the 10,000 election jurisdictions, including swing states, were still using Windows 7 or older systems for ballot production, vote programming, counting, and reporting.
End of Windows 7 Support: Windows 7 reached its end of life on January 14, 2020, with Microsoft stopping technical support and security updates.
The account concluded: “Hackers can potentially infiltrate elections through vulnerable USB cards, election management systems, and voting machines themselves. This underscores the urgent need for securing America’s election infrastructure.”
WATCH:
WATCH:
MUST WATCH:🚨 Watch this crucial 20-minute video featuring prominent Democrats, computer science professors, and election security experts discussing the vulnerabilities in America’s election system.
They warn that the system is online, easily hackable, and often operates on… pic.twitter.com/u8CqlDe68r
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) June 15, 2024
Meanwhile, Trump is on his way to securing the GOP presidential nomination. Now, he will need to select another running mate. And this time, the choice will be even more crucial.
“This time Trump’s calculus will be much different than it was during his last two campaigns,” New York Magazine’s Intelligencer column noted. “Unlike in 2016, he can pretty much choose whoever he wants (within reason). Assuming the primary continues on its current trajectory, he will owe his nomination to no particular party faction; that means there’s no significant bloc of intraparty opposition that he must appease the way conservative evangelicals needed to be placated with Mike Pence.”
“Trump also has to think about his legacy. Since he’s limited to two terms, his veep will be the prohibitive front-runner in 2028 if Republicans win,” the column continued. “Even if they don’t take back the White House, the vice presidential choice is Trump’s best opportunity to designate a successor not only as party leader but as the chieftain of the MAGA movement.”
The former president has made several comments about potential running mates, but he has yet to announce his decision, which is expected ahead of the Republican National Convention next month.
