Rahul Gandhi Labels EVMs 'Black Box' Amid Elon Musk's 'Eliminate' Remark

Citing a news report that has ignited the discussion, Rahul Gandhi labelled EVMs in India as a ‘black box’.

New Delhi: As the debate around the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) gained momentum once again after Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s remark on ‘eliminating’ the EVMs, now Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has participated in the discourse. Citing a news report that has ignited the discussion, Gandhi labelled EVMs in India as a ‘black box’. 

He signalled that a lack of accountability by institutions makes democracy vulnerable to fraud and ultimately becomes an illusion. He said, "EVMs in India are a black box, and nobody is allowed to scrutinise them.” He added that serious concerns are being expressed regarding the transparency of the country’s electoral process. 

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. https://t.co/nysn5S8DCF pic.twitter.com/7sdTWJXOAb — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 16, 2024

A tweet from the tech billionaire Musk that questioned the integrity of EVMs and called on the need to ‘eliminate’ the voting machine sparked the debate. In a post on ‘X’, Musk said, “We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high.” 

This led BJP leader and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar to contend that secure digital hardware is attainable. Chandrasekhar went on to invite Musk to visit India and gain some insights from its electoral processes. He added that ‘We'd be happy to run a tutorial’ for Musk.