Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite tv for pc community was used to tally swing state votes through the 2024 election, permitting him to “rig” or “hack” the election in favor of Trump.
After the 2024 presidential election within the U.S., a rumor began to unfold that Elon Musk, founding father of SpaceX and supporter of Republican President-elect Donald Trump, had rigged the results of the election utilizing Starlink, Musk’s satellite tv for pc web firm. This declare is unfounded, as will likely be defined beneath.
One post amplifying the rumor on X included a video clip of a report on the connectivity of Tulare County in California’s Central Valley (archived):
(@JamesTate121 / X)
“Elon Musk used Starlink to hack our elections so he can have good issues whereas inflicting ache on Individuals,” the submit learn. The video mentioned:
Registrar Michelle Baldwin says entry to connectivity was improved this yr due to Starlink satellite tv for pc web. She provides technical difficulties with a tabulator machine had been rapidly mounted and didn’t affect the rely. 5 of the ten volunteers assigned to the Exeter ballot location didn’t present up, however Baldwin says the entire websites nonetheless ran easily.
This X submit had gained 214,500 views and seven,600 likes as of this writing, however this declare and questions surrounding it appeared a number of occasions on the social media platform, in addition to on Reddit, and TikTok.
The video was a part of a longer news report by ABC30, a tv channel in Fresno, California. The report indicated that the election course of had gone effectively in Tulare County, a rural space of the state. However the flurry of suspicions reached Snopes readers as effectively, who emailed us asking to verify if Musk had certainly used his firm to rig the election.
One post on X (archived) referred to a nine-minute video by TikTok person @etheria77 which it mentioned had been seen 1.6 million occasions. Whereas we couldn’t discover the video on the person’s TikTok profile web page — another video on Nov. 11, 2024 saying it had been eliminated — it appeared on X (archived):
(@AesPolitics1/X)
Within the video, the person claimed to have her “CCIE” — the Cisco Licensed Internetwork Skilled certification, a notoriously troublesome certification to acquire, with a pass rate of about 26%. “California and different swing states had been in a position to make use of Starlink with the intention to tally up and to rely voting ballots of their state,” she mentioned.
Many who seen the video demanded that the allegations be investigated, arguing that it was unethical that an organization owned by a Trump supporter must be concerned within the election course of.
Fueling the claims was one other video clip of podcaster Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump earlier than the election. In it, Rogan claimed that Musk had an app that allowed him to verify the election outcomes 4 hours earlier than they had been introduced (archived):
Apparently Elon created an app and he knew who gained the election 4 hours earlier than the outcomes. In order the outcomes had been coming in, 4 hours earlier than they referred to as it, Dana White informed me Elon was like ‘I am leaving, it is over, Donald gained.”
However the actuality is that the overwhelming majority of voting machines haven’t any connectivity, because the federal certification requires voting systems to be “air-gapped” from different networks — that’s, totally unbiased. It additionally doesn’t permit machines to be outfitted with wi-fi know-how akin to Starlink, WiFi or Bluetooth.
When poll scanners are related to something, it’s sometimes a closed community, used solely to transmit unofficial outcomes after the polls have closed and after reminiscence playing cards are eliminated to tally up votes for official outcomes. As such, a connection to Starlink is unimaginable, in keeping with a number of specialists and election officers.
For instance, one of many federal Election Help Fee (EAC)-approved voting system producers is Clear Poll, which guarantees that its machines are on a “closed network” — that’s, that they don’t seem to be related to the web, wi-fi, or bluetooth. It additional ensures that the information saved within the machines is encrypted, and that every machine retains a log of anybody who has accessed it.
We reviewed voting system safety measures in all seven swing states.
In North Carolina, the law prohibits any voting system to be related to any community:
No voting system utilized in any election on this State shall be related to a community, and any function permitting connection to a community shall be disabled. Prohibited community connections embody the Web, intranet, fax, phone line, networks established by way of modem, or every other wired or wi-fi connection.
Patrick Gannon, public data director for the Board of Elections of North Carolina replied to our inquiry in an e mail:
Satellite tv for pc-based web gadgets weren’t used to tabulate or add vote counts in North Carolina. As well as, our tabulated outcomes are encrypted from supply to vacation spot stopping outcomes being modified in transit. Moreover, tabulators and ballot-marking gadgets are by no means related to the web in North Carolina. In truth, it’s prohibited by state regulation.
We’ve no proof of any alteration of votes by anybody. We ask, once more, that folks cease spreading false details about elections.
In Georgia, the machines additionally don’t connect with the web. In response to website of Georgia’s Secretary of State:
The paper-ballot system protects Georgia in opposition to laptop hackers and delivers dependable election outcomes which might be audited utilizing paper ballots.
- The machines don’t connect with the web, which limits cybersecurity dangers. In addition they create an auditable paper-ballot, with different enhanced evaluation capabilities for the general public.
- Dominion’s product safety protocols meet or exceed U.S. Election Help Fee Voluntary Voting System Necessities.
- The paper-ballot system makes use of encryption, multi-factor authentication and role-based entry controls.
Pennsylvania also guarantees that “Voting techniques are by no means related to the web, and each vote solid on a voting machine is recorded on a user-verifiable paper poll.”
“Counties don’t use Starlink to transmit unofficial or official election outcomes,” Pennsylvania Division of State Press Secretary Matt Heckel mentioned in an e mail. “No voting system in Pennsylvania is ever related to the web”
Arizona, one other swing state, additionally explains that its voting machines are “remoted”: “In Arizona, election techniques (computerized techniques that program elections and rely votes) are air-gapped, which means that they’re by no means related to different networks, such because the web or workplace networks.”
Michigan, in the meantime, enforces related safety measures:
Voting machines can’t be related to the web throughout poll tabulation. Solely after counting is completed and a paper document has been generated will some jurisdictions join the machines to the web to ship unofficial outcomes to the county clerk.
Nevada, similarly, ensures that its “voting system is a “standalone system” that’s not related to a community, the Web, and should not have wi-fi connection capabilities.”
Lastly Wisconsin is likely one of the states that makes use of a closed community to transmit unofficial outcomes, however it says its voting machines usually are not related:
Voting techniques utilized in Wisconsin are federally examined and authorized, excluding techniques that transmit unofficial outcomes. Voting techniques outfitted with mobile modems haven’t acquired federal certification.
We contacted officers from the remaining 5 swing states to ask if elections had gone easily and can replace this report ought to they reply.
As for Tulare County in California, the identical journalist who made the report that sparked suspicions offered a new report on Nov. 12 indicating that they’d requested county officers about these issues.
“In California. It is truly unlawful for any a part of the voting system to be related to the web. As such, our voting system operates inside a completely air-gapped atmosphere. Which means it is utterly remoted from the web and every other community,” Stephanie Hill, the techniques and procedures analyst for Tulare County Registrar of Voters, informed ABC30.
The day after the election, on Nov. 6, 2024, Cybersecurity Infrastructure Safety Company Director Jen Easterly released a statement reiterating that the election had been safe:
As now we have mentioned repeatedly, our election infrastructure has by no means been safer and the election neighborhood by no means higher ready to ship secure, safe, free, and truthful elections for the American folks. That is what we noticed yesterday within the peaceable and safe train of democracy. Importantly, now we have no proof of any malicious exercise that had a cloth affect on the safety or integrity of our election infrastructure.
We additionally contacted Verified Voting, a non-governmental, non-partisan basis devoted to “selling the accountable use of know-how in elections.” In an e mail assertion, they defined that whereas Starlink had been utilized in some localities, its use was on no account associated to the voting techniques in place (emphasis ours):
Starlink offered connectivity in quite a lot of jurisdictions for digital ballot books (EPBs) on this election.
Neither Starlink nor different varieties of communication networks play any position in counting votes. Most votes are tallied on scanners that do not have web connections, after which election officers use reminiscence playing cards to switch the outcomes to the central tabulator. The scanners additionally produce printed data of their vote totals previous to transmittal. Most states, together with all of the so-called swing states, use paper ballots or data that voters can confirm, and routinely look at a few of these ballots by hand to test the counts. Our elections produce large portions of bodily proof. A satellite tv for pc system like Starlink can not steal that.
Preliminary election outcomes from polling place voting are unofficial. These very native outcomes are compiled with all of the leads to a jurisdiction, akin to a county, however earlier than the collected outcomes are finalized, there are processes in place to reconcile the variety of voters with the variety of ballots. Previously polling place outcomes had been communicated to the county’s elections workplace by way of a modem. This observe of sending outcomes electronically is considerably uncommon, however regardless, none of these electronically transmitted outcomes are the official ultimate outcomes. The paper ballots counted by tabulators present proof of voters’ selections in onerous copy. Audits and/or recounts look at that bodily proof.
