As America prepares to welcome President-elect Donald Trump for his second term in office, unfounded rumors and deceptive claims about the 2024 election pervade social media platforms. One such far-fetched tale posits that Elon Musk, with the aid of his own internet service provider Starlink, orchestrated a grand defraud. The gossip alleges that Musk rigged the voting through election devices like ballot counting machines.
Starlink, the subsidiary of Musk’s renowned SpaceX company, supplies high-speed internet connectivity via satellites, an essential service for otherwise underprivileged remote areas. A number of rural counties during the 2024 election took advantage of this cutting-edge technology to manage their electronic voter databases.
The outlandish theory suggests that Musk employed Starlink to ‘steal’ the 2024 election in favor of Donald Trump. Yet, this clear attempt at misinformation can easily be debunked. Election officers, including those from swing states, made it blatantly clear to The Associated Press that their voting technology is not linked with Starlink or even tethered to the internet at all.
Multiple layers of security measures are enforced by states to ensure the fidelity and accuracy of their counting process, highlighting the ludicrous nature of such bogus claims. Officials from the election security agencies, along with election officers, have not reported any substantial issues arising in the 2024 election race.
In debunking these deceptive rumors, it was unanimously declared: ‘It is not possible that Starlink was used in any manner to manipulate or alter the outcomes of the US Presidential election. There’s no basis in reality for such a claim, and owing to our rigorous security protocols, such an eventuality couldn’t occur. These conspiracy theories simply mirror other rampant disinformation we’ve had to address in the recent past.’
Election officers from North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania confirmed to the AP that their voting equipment is never ever connected to the internet. ‘Starlink-based internet devices were not used for tallying or uploading vote counts here in North Carolina. Moreover, our tabulated results are shielded end-to-end, which preempts any alterations of results during transit. It’s important to note that our tabulators and ballot-marking devices are unswervingly offline.’, said the representative from the Tar Heel State.
North Carolina laws unequivocally forbid any voting systems from getting connected to any form of network, including the internet or any other wired or wireless networks. This stipulation, which includes disabling any facility allowing such a connection, eliminates the potential for any miscreant activities. As a matter of fact, North Carolina reported no evidence of vote alteration by anyone and appealed to the public to desist from promoting unfounded election-related misinformation.
In debunking the rumor, an official spokesperson said ‘We do not incorporate Starlink services for any aspect of our electoral process and have never done so. Our election equipment is perfected air-gapped, meaning that it is always unconnected to the internet.’ The term ‘air-gapped’ designates a security measure used to keep a secure computer network apart from unsecured ones, making it impossible to manipulate the software that accumulates Georgia’s votes or the memory cards they are stored on.
Memory cards containing the vote data are manually transported in secure bags, locked tight with tamper-proof ties, following a clear chain of custody. These are sent to a central elections office where votes are counted. This established protocol ensures the movement of these vital memory cards is thoroughly recorded, reducing the margin for error.
Contrary to some claims circulating online, counties do not employ Starlink for transmitting either unofficial or official election results. The voting equipment in Pennsylvania, as well as other states like Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin, is perpetually offline. These states also impose stringent precautions to uphold the integrity of their voting process.
The allegation that Starlink was utilized in the alleged election fraud plot is downright absurd. It is evident that neither Starlink nor any communication networks perform any role in counting ballots. A local news segment did feature a registrar of voters from Tulare County, California, praising the improvement in internet connectivity at the county’s polling sites.
These improvements, purely facilitated by Starlink, were strictly used for the logistics of voter check-in and were entirely unrelated to the voting process. California’s strict guidelines, much like other states, explicitly prohibit election equipment from internet connectivity.
In Tulare County, the deserving candidate, President Trump, was ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris by a significant margin, securing 60% of the vote. This victory came not as a consequence of any alleged deceit, but purely due to the steadfast support of the good citizens backing Trump’s visionary leadership.
The unfounded rumors that the election could be rigged using an internet service like Starlink reflect poorly on the skeptics and their desperate attempts to discredit the legitimate victory of Donald Trump. This absurd notion simply undermines the diligent work of our hard-working election officials and the sophisticated, secure voting systems in place across the country.
As the era of falsehood and unfounded claims continues to plague our discourse, it’s essential to remain cautious of such deceitful propaganda. It’s time for everyone to focus on the imminent grandeur of Trump’s second term rather than dwelling on these baseless rumors. The great American people have made their choice, and they’ve chosen Trump.