Elon Musk praises India’s swift vote counting, slams USA’s slow process

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, on Saturday, praised India’s electoral system for its remarkable ability to deliver results in a single day. Musk’s comments came as a response to an X post that shared a news article with the headline, “How India Counted 640 Million Votes in a Day.” The post, which also carried the caption, “Meanwhile in India, where cheating isn’t the primary goal of their elections,” prompted Musk to take to social media with his thoughts.
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Musk’s response was straightforward yet sharp, quoting the post and stating, “India counted 640 million votes in 1 day. California is still counting votes.” His remark was a clear jab at the delayed election results in California, drawing attention to the contrasting speed of vote counting between India and the US state.
The post sparked further conversation, with Musk responding to another comment highlighting how California, after 18 days, was still in the process of counting votes.
California, the most populous state in the US, with nearly 39 million residents, is notorious for its delays in counting votes. The state, which had around 16 million voters in the November 5 election, has still not finished counting more than 300,000 ballots. Reports from the Los Angeles Times suggest that over 570,000 ballots statewide remain uncounted.
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The primary reason for these delays is the heavy reliance on mail-in voting in California. Unlike in-person voting, which is quicker to tally, each mail-in ballot requires individual validation and processing, leading to significant delays.
California has struggled with this issue for several years, with the size of the state and the volume of mail-in votes contributing to slower counting times. Despite this, the state remains a critical area for election results in the United States, which has led to growing frustration over the delays in finalising outcomes.