House Democrat: Paper ballots protect against Musk’s potential election hacking

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday that the use of paper ballots prevents hacking from tech mogul Elon Musk, who is supporting Republicans this election cycle.

“Forty-nine of the 50 states have paper records of the ballots, right?” Himes said on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe.”

“Except for Louisiana, every other state in the union has a paper backup,” he added. “So, let’s just imagine that Elon Musk or whoever can pull off something they’ve never pulled off before and get in and change the vote totals, it would be relatively easy to go back and check that against the actual paper ballot.”

Musk, an ally of President Trump, has spent more than $442 million in the midterm elections, after putting an additional $76.8 million into his super PAC in the past month. Between July and September, the tech mogul gave a combined $276 million to his super PAC and various Republican groups.

Musk also spent a significant amount backing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in his Senate race against Democrat James Talarico.

Officials in states around the country have recently played defense against election fraud claims from Trump, with the president doubling down ahead of this year’s midterms.

In remarks to the country in July, the president claimed to see “shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure.” Trump pointed to a voter registration case in Michigan from 2020, also taking aim at California, suggesting the Golden State’s mail-in ballots were “floating aimlessly.”

Trump has a history of election denial , repeatedly claiming falsely that he won the 2020 presidential election.