New Delhi [India], June 16 (ANI): In a sharp counter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s criticism of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said that they can be architected and built right as India has done.
He further called out Musk in a post on X, saying that India “would be happy to run a tutorial” for the same.
“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 n other places – where they use regular compute platforms to build Internet-connected Voting machines,” Chandrasekhar said in a post on X.
Sketching out the example of the Indian EVMs, the former Union Minister said that they are “custom-designed, secure and isolated from any network or media.”
He said, “Indian EVMs are custom designed, secure and isolated from any network or media – No connectivity, no Bluetooth, wifi, Internet. ie there is no way in. Factory-programmed controllers that cannot be reprogrammed.”
“Electronic voting machines can be architected and built right as India has done. We would be happy to run a tutorial Elon,” the Minister said.
This is a huge sweeping generalization statement that implies no one can build secure digital hardware. Wrong. @elonmusk ‘s view may apply to US n other places – where they use regular compute platforms to build Internet connected Voting machines.
But Indian EVMs are custom… https://t.co/GiaCqU1n7O
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@RajeevRC_X) June 16, 2024
Rajeev Chandrasekhar had notably served as the Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in Modi Cabinet 2.0.
His response came after Musk made a statement on social media, saying that the electronic voting machines should be eliminated.
“We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high,” Musk had said earlier, raising concerns about the EVMs.
We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high. https://t.co/PHzJsoXpLh
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2024
In India’s recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, several opposition leaders had alleged that there was a possibility of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) being hacked.
However Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar after the results emerged said, “Now, it (result) is in front of everyone. Let the EVM rest till the next elections… It is a trustable thing which keeps on doing its work…” (ANI)
