India has just concluded the world’s largest democratic election, though not without controversies, including issues with exit poll accuracy and EVMs security and now joining this debate is none other than billionaire visionary Elon Musk.

Elon Musk, in a post on X, raised concerns about electronic voting machines, suggesting they should be eliminated due to potential hacking risks by humans or AI, even if minimal.

However, former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar challenged Musk’s comments, calling them a “huge sweeping generalization” without basis.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who served as Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in Modi’s second cabinet, countered Musk’s view, saying it might be relevant to the US and other regions using standard computing platforms for “Internet-connected voting machines.”

Chandrasekhar emphasized that this is not applicable to India, where EVMs are custom-designed, secure, and isolated from any network or media.

“This is a huge sweeping generalization statement that implies no one can build secure digital hardware. Wrong. @elonmusk’s view may apply to the US and other places where they use regular computing platforms to build Internet-connected voting machines. But Indian EVMs are custom-designed, secure, and isolated from any network or media—no connectivity, no Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Internet. There is no way in. Factory-programmed controllers that cannot be reprogrammed,” Chandrasekhar tweeted.

The entrepreneur-turned-politician also proposed giving the SpaceX boss a tutorial to demonstrate the robustness of EVMs designed in India.

“Electronic voting machines can be architected and built right as India has done. We would be happy to run a tutorial for Elon,” he said.

Musk replied succinctly, “Anything can be hacked.”

The Heated Debate

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also entered the controversy, supporting Musk’s view. Gandhi, who has often questioned the inviolability of EVMs, described them as a “black box.”

In a post on X, Gandhi stated, “EVMs in India are a ‘black box,’ and nobody is allowed to scrutinize them. Serious concerns are being raised about transparency in our electoral process. Democracy ends up becoming a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability.”

During the recent marathon Lok Sabha election, the Opposition alleged that the ruling BJP might tamper with EVMs to influence poll outcomes. Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar responded, assuring that EVMs are “100% safe.”

Amid the controversy, BJP IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya issued a challenge to the Tesla CEO and a rebuttal to Rahul Gandhi.

“Elon Musk or anyone else who thinks they can hack the EVM should approach the Election Commission of India and take a shot at it. But why is Rahul Gandhi complaining about Indian democracy to Musk? What can Musk do? Or is crying before the world and demeaning India part of Congress’s DNA? We just had an election, and the people of India rejected this dynast for the third time in a row. But he still does not get it,” Malviya tweeted.

Elon Musk’s Point of View

To put this entire debate into perspective, Musk was referring to a report on software issues with EVMs supplied by the American firm Dominion Voting Systems, which faced intense scrutiny following the 2020 U.S. presidential elections.

The company settled a multi-million dollar defamation suit against Fox News, whose anchors had cast doubts on the integrity of its voting machines.

During Puerto Rico’s primary elections for gubernatorial polls, Musk commented, “We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high.”

The Great India Snub

When Musk visited India and met Modi, there was widespread enthusiasm about the potential for Tesla factories being set up, which was also seen as a snub to China.

However, the situation changed dramatically when Musk canceled a high-profile meeting, highlighting the increasing rivalry between India and China, Asia’s two largest countries by population and among the region’s most dynamic economies.

Musk was scheduled to meet Modi last week and announce an investment of up to $3 billion in a car plant, but canceled, citing “very heavy Tesla obligations.”

Instead of attending a startup event in India, Musk went to China, where he met with Premier Li Qiang and made progress towards rolling out Tesla’s advanced driver assistance package in the world’s largest auto market.

For the Modi government, this was a significant setback as Musk’s trip to India could have strengthened Modi’s re-election campaign, with a Tesla investment announcement serving as an endorsement of Modi’s business-friendly image as he seeks a rare third term.

Modi’s administration has been actively trying to attract foreign companies to India as they seek to diversify their supply chains beyond China due to geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The Opposition Spots Its Chance

Modi’s opponents seized on Musk’s China visit to criticize the prime minister.

“Such is the lack of faith in the Modi government’s regulatory policies, that big businesses are turning to China over India repeatedly,” Shama Mohamed, the national spokesperson of the main opposition Congress party, wrote on the social media site X.

However, the real reason Musk couldn’t make it to India was due to the Tesla quarterly call scheduled five days from the visit, with Tesla’s stock performing poorly compared to other MAG 7 companies.

Additionally, the China visit was necessary to expedite the rollout of Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, which required on-the-ground permissions and compliance with regulations necessitating Chinese Tesla data to be stored on China-based servers.

The Viewpoint

In an interview likely to provoke the Election Commission and the current government, one of India’s foremost electronic voting machine (EVM) experts stated that while EVMs cannot be hacked due to their lack of connectivity to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or the Internet, they can still be manipulated.

Madhav Deshpande, a former CEO of Tulip Software and a former consultant to the Obama administration, suggested that the solution to this manipulation issue is simple, straightforward, and inexpensive.

In a 37-minute interview, Deshpande explained that EVMs, comprising three units—the ballot unit, the control unit, and the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machine—are “under-designed.”

This means they rely on outdated technology that hasn’t incorporated significant advancements made since EVMs were first used. Consequently, there are vulnerabilities in the system that allow for tampering.

Deshpande discussed two methods of manipulating the vote.

The first involves the VVPAT machine and how its current configuration between the ballot unit and the control unit can be exploited.

The second method of manipulating votes involves the control unit. Since any control unit can work with any ballot unit, it is theoretically possible to swap the control unit after voting or pre-load it with manufactured votes.

However, he offered a solution is straightforward: ensure effective pairing through a serial cable. For further details about this potential issue and the remedy, Deshpande’s interview is highly recommended.

The third point Deshpande highlights is the need for geolocation tracking with a GPS attachment to ensure EVMs do not go missing and can be traced and recovered if they fall into the wrong hands.

To prevent the GPS from making the EVM hackable, Deshpande suggests it should not be electronically connected to the EVM but simply attached.

This is significant because, for the first time, an EVM expert has demonstrated how EVMs can be manipulated—but not hacked—and how this manipulation can be easily and simply prevented.

Now that we “know” EVMs can be manipulated, failing to address and rectify these concerns immediately could lead to widespread fears of manipulation, similar to the controversy surrounding Musk’s comments.