On Monday (16th June), former Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar gave a befitting reply to Tesla chief Elon Musk after the latter called for eliminating Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Chandrasekhar said that Musk’s views could apply to the US and other places where internet-connected voting machines are used but the Indian EVMs are different as they have no connectivity, no Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or internet.
Elon Musk quoted a post about irregularities found in Puerto Rico elections. He wrote, “We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high.”
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.
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@RajeevRC_X) June 16, 2024
But Indian EVMs are custom… https://t.co/GiaCqU1n7O
His post went viral on social media, especially among the left-liberals, opposition leaders and their supporters who have repeatedly questioned the authenticity of the EVMs in India.
Quoting Musk, Rajeev Chandrasekhar came out in support of Indian EVMs and said, “This is a huge sweeping generalization statement that implies no one can build secure digital hardware. Wrong. Elon Musk’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. i.e. 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.”
Musk did not back off and claimed that “Everything can be hacked” in a reply to Chandrasekhar’s post to which the former minister said, “Technically you are right – anything is possible. E.g. with quantum computing, I can decrypt any level of encryption, with lab-level tech and plenty of resources, I can hack any digital hardware/system including flight controls of a glass cockpit of a jet etc. But that’s a different type of conversation from EVMs being secure and reliable vis a vis paper voting. And we can agree to disagree.”
Technically ur right – anything is possible E.g..wth quantum compute, i can decrypt any level of encryption, with lab level tech n plenty of resources, i can hack any digital hardware/system incldng flight controls of a glass cockpit of a jet etc etc. But thats a different type…
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@RajeevRC_X) June 16, 2024
Indian EVMs are secure
Despite repeatedly going through scrutiny and succeeding in proving effectiveness, Indian EVMs have faced criticism, especially from individuals with vested interests and opposition parties. Interestingly, I.N.D.I. Alliance won 230+ seats via EVMs in Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Despite their unexpected gain in a number of seats, the opposition is still crying over the authenticity of EVMs. OpIndia’s detailed report on why Indian EVMs are safe can be checked here.
