Sarah Travers
Elon Musk sparked controversy during a solo town hall event in Pennsylvania, where he amplified debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Addressing voters near Philadelphia, Musk urged support for Donald Trump in the upcoming 2024 election, while making several misleading statements about the previous election’s legitimacy.
When asked about potential fraud in the 2020 election, Musk claimed that mail-in ballots without citizenship proof opened the door for widespread voter fraud. However, experts widely agree that voter fraud is exceedingly rare in the U.S., and the election system has strict measures in place to prevent and detect irregularities.
Musk also referenced Dominion Voting Systems, incorrectly implying that its machines were involved in election mishandling in Philadelphia and Maricopa County, Arizona. In reality, Philadelphia does not use Dominion machines, relying instead on equipment from Election Systems & Software (ES&S), according to Verified Voting, a nonpartisan organization tracking election technology.
His comments contradict statements from election officials in both Pennsylvania and Arizona, who have verified that the 2020 results were accurate. Officials from both political parties have repeatedly affirmed the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in those key states.
While Maricopa County did use Dominion machines, multiple audits, including hand counts, confirmed the reliability of their results. The voting system depends on voter-verified paper ballots, offering transparency and accountability. Experts stress that these findings are backed by hard evidence, not mere opinion, after extensive post-election audits.
Musk further advocated for a transition to a fully paper-based voting system with hand counting, aligning with Trump’s stance. Despite his reputation as a technology pioneer, Musk voiced distrust in electronic systems, insisting that hand-counted paper ballots are the only way to guarantee election security. However, election experts note that over 98% of U.S. voters already cast ballots with verifiable paper trails, making Musk’s proposal redundant.
The Pennsylvania town hall highlighted Musk’s ongoing trend of promoting misinformation, which is also evident on his social media platform, X. There, he has repeatedly shared baseless conspiracy theories favoring Trump and questioning the 2020 election outcome, despite all legal challenges and recounts affirming its legitimacy.
Following Musk’s remarks, both Dominion Voting Systems and ES&S promptly dismissed his claims. In separate statements, the companies reiterated that Musk’s assertions conflict with the facts and verified election data. As the 2024 election season heats up, combating the spread of election-related misinformation remains a pressing challenge for the democratic process.
